Another potential battery storage project in San Diego County, another round of opposition.
A local family wants to construct a solar-plus-battery energy facility in Valley Center and even though the proposal is in its early stages, some residents have already lined up against it, fearing the project may pose a fire hazard and upends the rural character of the community.
Its a familiar pattern that has played out over the past 15 months after a spate of battery fires have broken out across the region.
The Teymur Tuluie Family Trust, which for more than 30 years has owned a 141-acre plot of land in Valley Center, has created a development company called Nova Renewables.
Family members propose building a 40 megawatt-hour battery storage and 10 megawatt solar farm called the Clean Energy Valley Center, south of Valley Center Road and between Rock Hill and Round Tree roads.
Robin Tuluie said the family has been losing money on this land for a long time. My father (Teymur) died; my mother cant look after it, shes elderly.
The Clean Energy Valley Center would set aside 57 acres for solar panels and one-half acre for the battery storage system. Most of the remaining acreage, Tuluie said, would still be used to raise crops between the solar panels, thus making the project an agrivoltaics co-location.
The site of the proposed Clean Energy Valley Center solar and battery storage project on land owned by the Tuluie family. (Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The project intends to use use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are less resistant to heat than the more commonly used lithium-ion batteries often used in electronic devices, electric vehicles and at many battery storage sites.
The batteries at the proposed facility in Valley Center will be supplied by Teco Westinghouse. Tuluie said the company insists its LFP batteries have never experienced thermal runaway — a condition in which systems overheat, ignite and spread from one battery to another.
The batteries would be designed to run only at half their maximum power, keeping temperatures lower to avoid overheating and reduce risks. Tuluie also pledged were going to be absolutely in compliance with standards set by the National Fire Protection Association.
We want to make sure its safe, he said, alluding to research studies by Stanford, UCLA and Caltech indicating that LFP batteries are less prone to thermal runaway than lithium-ion chemistries.
In September 2023, a fire broke out among some of the batteries at the Valley Center Energy Storage Facility, operated by renewable energy company Terra-Gen.
While fire officials said the fire was put out in about 45 minutes and extinguished by the site’s internal fire prevention system, businesses and the small number of homes within a quarter-mile of the industrial park where the facility is located were evacuated and shelter-in-place orders were in effect within a half-mile of the site out of an abundance of caution.
The Terra-Gen facility (139 megawatts and 560 megawatt-hours) is more than 10 times larger than the Clean Energy Valley Center site and used lithium-ion rather than LFP batteries.
But opponents are not reassured, pointing to a study in the United Kingdom that suggested that, depending on the state of charge, LFP batteries posed greater flammability and toxicity hazards than nickel manganese cobalt batteries — a type of lithium-ion battery.
Its not a matter of if (a fire ignites), its when, said Laura Maloney, whose ranch is next to the proposed facility. Were in the highest, most severe zone for wildfires So putting anything that could exacerbate that or reduce the fire departments resources — theyre stretched thin already — and put in an additional hazard, seems very negligent.
Maloney is one of the members of Keep Valley Center Rural, a group that has collected 310 signatures opposing the Clean Energy Valley Center facility.
Among other objections, they say the communitys backcountry roots are disappearing. In addition to the Terra-Gen solar-plus-battery facility, at least two other solar-only facilities have been constructed in Valley Center.
Longtime resident Alden Townsends ranch with seven horses sits next door to an already-existing solar farm and the proposed facility would be across the street from her place. In addition to concerns about battery fires, she said runoff from dry ground around solar facilities after it rains leads to flooding problems.
We dont have to keep making things worse, she said. I cant stop people from doing what they want with their property, but all this (development) is affecting other people.
Others complain the facilities are an eyesore.
We bought our horse ranch because we are in a rural area and wanted that character, Maloney said. We did not anticipate there was going to be an industrial plant next to us.
Tuluie said the project will have setbacks from 400 to 600 feet from the nearest house and hedges will be planted to help obscure views of the facility.
We preserve the majority of the land for its rural purposes — agriculture, he said. The site doesnt cause traffic. Its not like a big housing development. We have non-reflective (solar) panels that dont cause glare. It will be well set back from Valley Center Road. This is a very balanced and proportionate development that preserves the rural character of the majority of the site.
The proposal is in the process of trying to obtain a multi-use permit. At a packed Valley Center Community Planning Group meeting on Nov. 11, the panels chair said, This project is in its infancy.
Valley Center is an unincorporated area of San Diego County so county officials will ultimately make a decision on whether the facility gets the OK. County and Valley Center fire officials are looking into the project as well.
Tuluie said he hopes to break ground in late 2026 or early 2027. If approved, the Clean Valley Energy Center anticipates providing enough energy to power more than 4,000 homes.
Battery storage is considered a crucial piece in California’s policy goal of deriving 100 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. San Diego County has adopted a blueprint to reach net-zero by 2045 as well.
Storage systems take solar power generated during the day and discharge the electricity later, especially from 4 to 9 p.m. when the states grid is under the most stress. Batteries can help reduce the risk of rotating power outages and replace natural gas “peaker plants” used during those critical hours when customers crank up their air conditioners.
Several fires at battery storage facilities have broken out in the San Diego area in little more than a year.
The most recent occurred Sept. 5 in Escondido at San Diego Gas & Electric’s 30-megawatt, 120-megawatt-hours facility that led 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.
Cal FireCal Fire crews battled a battery fire inside one of the buildings at the Gateway Energy Storage Facility in Otay Mesa for 17 days in May. (Cal Fire)
The largest broke out on May 15 in Otay Mesa at the 250-megawatt Gateway Energy Storage facility, operated by LS Power and its subsidiary, Rev Renewables. Fire officials said the batteries experienced thermal runaway and it took nearly 17 days before the last unit left the facility.
Among the proposals in the pipeline is the Seguro Energy Storage Project that Fortune 500 company AES wants to build on a 22.5-acre lot in Eden Valley, between San Marcos and Escondido. If approved, the facility would generate 320 megawatts and 1,280 megawatt-hours of electricity that would flow to California’s electric grid — enough to power about 240,000 homes for four hours.
On Sept. 20, the Poway City Council approved the construction of a 300-megawatt, 1,200-megawatt-hour battery storage facility despite concerns from some residents about potential fires.
Called Nighthawk, the project by Arizona-based renewable energy company Arevon will include 329 battery enclosures and, when fully built out, will generate enough electricity to power up to 300,000 homes for four hours. It anticipates being operational by the second quarter of next year.