Aypa Power seeks CEC approval for 9.2GWh long-duration BESS in Los Angeles County

The developer’s application follows a big milestone for the CEC last month as it approved the first project as part of its opt-in certification scheme.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news, the CEC approved Intersect Power’s Darden Clean Energy Project (DCEP) which is expected to feature a 1.15GW/4.6GWh BESS paired with a similarly sized solar farm.

Despite having only received a handful of applications so far, the CEC revealed last month that it was bracing for a “flood of [opt-in] applications.” The process was introduced as a pathway for developers to get permitting for their projects at state, rather than local, level.

Although Aya Power didn’t specify a BESS supplier, its Prairie Song project will comprise a 1.15GW/9.2GWh BESS utilising lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology, located across two sites straddling Soledad Canyon Road approximately 6 miles south of Palmdale in Los Angeles County.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news, Aypa Power recently secured a battery supply deal with Canadian Solar to supply a 160MW/806MWh BESS for one of the developer’s other projects located in California, along with another project in Texas.

The business subsidiary for the Prairie Song project was first incorporated with the California Secretary of State in 2017 as 16DO 8ME, LLC, by solar and storage developer Avantus.

Prior to a 2022 rebrand, Avantus was known as 8minute Solar Energy, and would incorporate all of its business subsidiaries in this manner, using a combination of random numbers and letters followed by its distinguishable “8ME” signature.

At the end of last year, ownership of the project was transferred from Avantus to an Aypa Power-owned business subsidiary known as Ambar Power DevCo, LLC. In April of this year, Aypa Power changed the business subsidiary name to Prairie Song Reliability Project, LLC.

The Prairie Song project will connect to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO)-operated grid via Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) 500kV Vincent substation.

Despite having only just submitted its application with the CEC, the project already has permission to connect to the CAISO grid. Prior to selling the project, Avantus secured an interconnection agreement for the project which was finalised in 2022 as part of the system operator’s cluster 12 process.

According to the queue request, named Angeleno Solar Farm, Aypa Power has permission to connect up to 1.15GW BESS along with 1.15GW solar, opening up future options for the developer to potentially co-locate the energy storage element.

With CAISO’s oversubscribed and slow interconnections process remaining a huge barrier to overcome in the quest to break ground, Aypa Power has managed to avoid this entirely through the purchase of this project.

Aypa Power hopes to commence construction on its Prairie Song project no later than March 2027, with commercial operations slated for June 2029.

Once the regulator deems that Aypa Power’s application has all the necessary information, the CEC will commence a 270-day countdown period during which time the regulator will decide whether to approve the project or not.

Based on the timelines of previous applications, it could be sometime before the CEC commences this countdown

For example, Intersect Power submitted an application for its DCEP in November 2023, which the CEC deemed complete a whole 10 months later during September 2024.

In the instance of Engie’s Compass Energy Storage project, the CEC took a whole year to deem the application complete, after the regulator requested additional information on two separate occasions during the 12-month period.

As the approvals process is still in its infancy, developers may learn from previous mistakes and the commencement of the countdown period may be expedited.

Although the CEC’s opt-in process offers developers an alternative to local permitting routes, it has some distinct potential drawbacks. The first is the price for submitting an application, which can cost developers up to US$1 million.

As it stands, submitting an application costs US$356,282, plus an additional US$712 for each megawatt-hour of energy storage capacity. Luckily for developers of the biggest projects, the CEC caps application fees at US$1,068,853.

The second notable drawback is the impression the opt-in applications can create amongst communities, with some having accused developers of attempting to circumvent local opinion.

With the CEC offering the public a chance to submit public comments on projects, the community of San Juan Capistrano has made its opinion on Engie’s Compass Energy Storage project abundantly clear.

After receiving more than 1,1000 overwhelmingly negative comments on the project, the CEC has until January next year to decide whether to certify the project.