When batteries get a facelift, so does renewable energy
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What is the current role of grid‑scale battery storage in California’s energy mix?
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You're listening to Shortwave. From NPR. Hey short waivers, Emily Kong here with Cooper Katz McKim, a producer at The Indicator from Planet Money, as he is Wait, what are you doing, Cooper?
Oh, Emily, hi. That's just me turning on and off the lights at a facility in California where there is battery power energizing the grid. Like literally holding energy and then releasing it onto the grid that powers all our homes.
Interesting. But in California, I'd expect energy to be coming from places like natural gas or hydro. You're telling me batteries are in the mix?
Grid scale battery storage is surprisingly oftentimes the second largest source of energy on a given day in California.
I didn't know that battery storage could be used at that level.
I mean, just a few years ago, it was unimaginable. Grid scale storage like this, it was basically a dream technology for renewable companies, a what if scenario.
Right. And those companies historically have been using technologies at the whim of the weather. If the sun doesn't shine, solar energy isn't so great.
If the wind doesn't blow, exactly. And battery storage, it changes that equation.
Right, because you can store energy inside a battery somehow.
And then tap into it whenever it's needed. Well, that dream tech is now very much mainstream.
How did the Cal Flats solar‑plus‑battery project demonstrate large‑scale storage capacity?
Around twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, battery storage capacity jumped two hundred and thirty percent across the US.
Oh, wow.
More and more was added in twenty two, twenty three, and it really took off, particularly in California. To see it for myself, I showed up to a site called Cal Flats in Central California. It's this 2900 acre plot of land just covered in solar panels. There's like goats running around, there's little fox habitats. The extra energy generated from all that solar flows straight into batteries right on site.
These containers you see with you know what is it six or seven doors and each one of these containers has a bunch of modules that would look like big suitcases that have the battery cells, the DC batteries.
That's Justin Johnson, the COO of a Revon, the company that owns Cal Flats. Mm-hmm. When we talk about battery storage, this is what people are referring to. Rows and rows of stacked battery suitcases, basically, in a container that's like eight feet high, basically a a cabinet.
Oh, that's kind of small. How much power is this site creating?
So the site has enough storage capacity to provide electricity to around 60,000 homes for a few hours.
Oh, that's a lot.
Yeah, it's a lot. Arevon sells that energy to Apple and PG and E, the state's largest utility. Justin Johnson says there is no shortage of customers though.
If you have a solar plant or a battery plant or a combination, you know, a solar and battery plant anywhere in the US that's ready to be built these days, you can find an off taker
Right. I mean so much more electricity is needed these days with so many electric vehicles on the road and new data centers for artificial intelligence.
Exactly. So Emily today on the show we tackle the technological reasons behind batteries taking off so fast and what's next for them.
Let's go on a battery-powered magic carpet ride. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
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Why did battery technology experience a rapid “domino effect” after the 1990s?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the current role of grid‑scale battery storage in California’s energy mix?
0:00–1:41
2
How did the Cal Flats solar‑plus‑battery project demonstrate large‑scale storage capacity?
1:41–4:05
3
Why did battery technology experience a rapid “domino effect” after the 1990s?
4:05–6:28
4
What makes lithium‑ion batteries uniquely suited for grid storage compared to older chemistries?
6:28–8:24
5
How are newer chemistries like lithium‑iron‑phosphate and sodium‑ion shaping the future of storage?
8:24–9:39
6
What are redox‑flow batteries and how could they enable multi‑day grid storage?
9:39–11:57
7
Will battery adoption continue to accelerate, and what markets could drive the next surge?
11:57–14:05
8
How might emerging battery technologies impact everyday power use by 2030?
14:05–15:48