In 2017, the California Energy Commission awarded a grant for the Valencia Gardens Energy Storage project to demonstrate the power of local energy storage alongside rooftop solar. The project was implemented at the Valencia Gardens apartment complex, located within San Francisco’s Mission District and home to low-income and elderly residents, and it was intended to be an example of resilient clean energy.
The Valencia Gardens Energy Storage project aimed to:
Boost solar penetration: By storing excess solar energy, and thus allowing for more solar panels on the local grid, which would benefit both Valencia Gardens and California's decarbonization goals.
Increase hosting capacity: Increasing the existing solar photovoltaic hosting capacity of the distribution circuit by at least 25 percent.
Enhance grid stability: By optimizing energy flow, smoothing out demand, and potentially offering services to the California Independent System Operator.
Strengthen local resilience: Providing residents with critical backup power during outages, while avoiding exorbitant costs for grid upgrades.
Despite early progress, including a downsized battery system to mitigate projected cost increases, the Valencia Gardens Energy Storage project encountered significant roadblocks:
Interconnection delays: A two-year lag from the utility stalled project momentum.
Costly surprises: Piecemeal upgrades demanded by the utility inflated project costs.
Uncertainties and changes: Equipment changes and fire code revisions added further hurdles.
Permitting roadblocks: Despite efforts to renegotiate and streamline, fire code restrictions forced the project's termination.
As a result of the project’s termination, the Clean Coalition proposes a statewide approach: deploying front-of-meter solar and storage as a holistic grid design, with streamlined interconnection processes. This could achieve all the benefits initially envisioned for the Valencia Gardens Energy Storage project, paving the way for a cost-effective, secure, and resilient clean energy future for all Californians. Full details of the projects’ goals and objectives, project benefits, and challenges and barriers, including recommendations, can be found in this final report.
