Nighthawk utility-scale storage facility to use Tesla Megapack

Tenaska and Arevon plan 300MW battery storage facility in San Diego County to add resilience to the grid across California.

Nighthawk, a 300MW battery storage facility planned for Poway, California, is being developed by Tenaska in collaboration with Arevon. The facility, which will use Tesla Megapack, is pending permitting approvals, but is expected to break ground in 2023.

The Tesla Megapack comes fully-assembled with up to 3MWhs of storage and 1.5 MW of inverter capacity. Last year Tesla announced that it was using cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its Megapack, which would presumably cut costs and ease demand for nickel-based battery production capacity. Arevon announced last September that it had acquired 2GW/6GWh supply of Tesla Megapacks for its Falcon portfolio, a joint project with Tenaska in which the two companies are developing standalone storage projects in California load centers over the next four years.

Arevon recently signed a long-term contract under which the Nighthawk storage facility will provide energy and resource adequacy services to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The Nighthawk project will connect to the grid at the Sycamore Canyon Substation, which receives renewable energy generated in the desert and distributes it to the San Diego area.

“The Poway community will reap the benefits of not only a more reliable grid but also the economic benefits of such an infrastructure project,” said Tim Hemig, senior vice president in Tenaska’s Strategic Development & Acquisitions Group. “In particular, storage projects provide additional tax revenue and construction jobs. Our team looks forward to working with the community to maximize these benefits.”

The Nighthawk project is located within an existing industrial park. Construction is expected to begin in 2023 and take about a year to complete. At the peak of construction, approximately 100 workers will be on-site.

Nighthawk is the second storage project that Arevon has announced in the San Diego area. The Peregrine project, planned for Barrio Logan, is anticipated to start construction in 2022.