LG Energy Solution Supplies Batteries for World's Largest ESS Project (Comprehensive)

Supply to US power company Vistra's renewable energy replacement project
Estimated supply amount around 400 billion KRW... Reducing on-site installation time and costs

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The battery supplied by LG Energy Solution has been installed in the world's largest energy storage system (ESS) built by U.S. power company Vistra. ESS stores energy for use when needed, making it an essential facility for power generation methods like solar and wind that cannot produce electricity on demand. As demand for ESS expands due to abnormal weather such as cold waves, and with U.S. President Joe Biden undertaking large-scale energy infrastructure upgrades under the banner of combating climate change, the ESS market is expected to grow faster than initially anticipated.

According to LG Energy Solution on the 17th, Vistra recently established a 1.2GWh grid-scale ESS in the Moss Landing area in the northeastern part of Monterey County, California. Vistra is a power generation company with 39GW of generation facilities across the U.S., utilizing natural gas, nuclear, solar, and other sources. Since last year, it has been conducting a project to replace aging thermal power facilities at natural gas power plants with power ESS and other renewable energy sources.

LG Energy Solution’s battery supply is part of this project. This project is the largest single-site ESS in the world. It can store enough energy to power approximately 225,000 households during California’s peak electricity usage hours. Although the two companies have not disclosed the exact supply amount, it is estimated to be around 400 billion KRW.

According to global market research firm SNE Research, as of last year, the U.S. grid-scale ESS market size was 6.5GWh, accounting for about half of the global grid-scale ESS market. It is expected to grow at an average annual rate of over 50%, expanding to approximately 55.3GWh by 2025, about nine times the current size. The Biden administration has set a goal to expand renewable energy and transition to 100% clean energy by 2050. Following large-scale blackouts earlier this year, stable power supply has become a key concern even for ordinary households. With battery prices?the largest component of ESS?gradually decreasing and technological advancements lowering barriers, the growth rate is expected to be faster than initially predicted.

This is why the new ESS battery product (model name TR1300) supplied by LG Energy Solution is attracting attention. ESS consists of cells, the basic battery units, grouped into packs, which are then assembled into racks at the final ESS assembly stage. Unlike previous products, the TR1300 rack is shipped from the battery manufacturing plant with the packs already installed and assembled into the battery rack, reducing installation time and costs on-site.

Along with the application of high-performance battery cells, the battery racks can be stacked two layers high, allowing for efficient use of space. The energy density per unit area has also been increased. Additionally, it meets the industry's strictest fire safety standards. It has passed the UL9540A test, a safety test method standard for thermal runaway fire propagation in battery energy storage systems, conducted by the global safety certification company UL (Underwriters Laboratories). It is designed to operate stably even under external environmental changes such as earthquakes.

Shin Young-jun, head of the ESS division at LG Energy Solution, said, "By supplying batteries to the world's largest ESS project, we have been recognized for the differentiated competitiveness of our ESS batteries. We will further strengthen our quality competitiveness and lead the global ESS market."