A renewable energy company based in the Phoenix area just opened a $300 million battery storage facility in Barrio Logan and is in the midst of constructing another project in Poway.
Arevon Energy Inc. unveiled its 200 megawatt/400 megawatt-hour facility called the Peregrine Energy Storage Project on Main Street in the South Bay community during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday. The facility, located on a plot of land neighbors say had been largely ignored for years, came online June 25.
Arevon says the batteries housed in the facility’s 112 units can generate enough electricity to power as many as 200,000 homes during its peak two-hour period each day.
The Peregrine project will deploy utility-scale Tesla megapack batteries that use lithium iron phosphate chemistries that company officials say represent state-of-the-art technology and reduce the risk of the batteries catching fire.
“We’ve been operating Tesla megapacks for a number of years and we’ve had zero safety incidents,” said Arevon CEO Kevin Smith.
Battery storage facilities are considered a key piece of the California’s target to derive 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045 or earlier.
Commonly stacked in rows, batteries typically take electricity that’s generated during the daytime hours from solar, store that energy and send it to the grid in the evening.
Electricity from batteries emit no carbon and reduce the amount of power that would otherwise be supplied by fossil fuel generation such as natural gas, while also enhancing grid reliability during those hours.
In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded a nearly 2,000% increase in California energy storage during his administration that included 15,763 megawatts of capacity coming from batteries.
But a recent rash of fires have raised concerns.
In January, a blaze broke out at a 750-megawatt facility in the Northern California community of Moss Landing. The fire damaged about 55% of the site’s roughly 100,000 lithium-ion batteries, led to the evacuation of about 1,500 residents, burned for two days and closed a section of Highway 1 for three days.
In the San Diego area, a stubborn fire at the Gateway Energy Storage facility in Otay Mesa smoldered for two weeks in May 2024. The lithium-ion batteries, with nickel manganese cobalt chemistries, kept reigniting but no injuries or damage to nearby properties were reported.
In September, the 30-megawatt San Diego Gas & Electric battery facility in Escondido caught fire, leading to the temporary evacuation of about 500 nearby businesses. Crews from the city of Escondido found no abnormal readings indicating toxic fumes and air-quality monitoring did not indicate any health risks.
Battery fires can be difficult to put out. The lithium in most battery systems can experience “thermal runaway” — a condition in which the cells overheat, ignite and spread from one battery to another.
Supporters counter that battery facility fires are relatively rare and say better safety standards and the development of fire-resistant chemistries will ensure the industry’s growth.
Smith said the Peregrine facility will have 24-hour monitoring. “We’ve got multiple systems that back up the safety of the facilities,” he said. “We work with the local fire department to make sure that they understand the technology and if there is an issue, how to work together to make sure we don’t have any issues.”
Arevon officials say the project will disburse more than $28 million in property tax benefits over the course of its lifetime.
Fernando Hernandez, principal for the past 22 years at the Perkins K-School in Barrio Logan, said Arevon has donated $8,000 to $10,000 for student field trips to locations such as the Griffith Park Observatory and the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.
“To see such a huge investment in Barrio Logan, it makes me proud for this community,” Hernandez said.
An aerial view of the construction site for the Nighthawk Energy Storage Project in Poway that is expected to open in January. The 300 megawatt/1,200 megawatt-hour facility is owned and operated by Arevon Energy, Inc. (Arevon)
In North County, Arevon is constructing a larger battery facility in Poway called the Nighthawk Energy Storage Project in a dusty location off Kirkham Road.
Like Peregrine, the 300 megawatt/1,200 megawatt-hour Nighthawk site will use lithium-iron phosphate Tesla megapack batteries — but the batteries in Poway can be deployed for four hours.
The $600 million project that will send electricity to the San Diego Gas & Electric Silvergate substation about a half-mile away is expected to come online in January.
Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Arevon — pronounced uh-REE-von — owns and operates solar and energy storage projects in 17 states.