Orrick Advises Energy Vault on Largest Utility-Scale Green Hydrogen Project in the U.S.

Orrick advised Energy Vault, a leader in sustainable grid-scale energy storage solutions, on its strategic partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to deploy and operate the largest green hydrogen long-duration energy storage system in the U.S. The hybrid system located in Northern California will provide a minimum of 293 MWh of dispatchable carbon-free energy, capable of delivering power for up to 48 hours to approximately 2,000 electric customers within PG&E's Calistoga microgrid during planned outages and potential Public Safety Power Shutoffs that occur when utilities temporarily turn off power to specific areas due to extreme weather conditions or wildfire risk. Energy Vault will own, operate and maintain the system while providing dispatchable power under a long-term tolling agreement with PG&E.

The first-of-its-kind storage system integrates a short-duration battery system with a long-duration fuel cells plus green liquid hydrogen storage system and leverages Energy Vault's proprietary technology-neutral integration platform and energy management software to provide optimal dispatching, replacing the conventional mobile diesel generator used during grid outages in Calistoga. The groundbreaking technology represents a significant advancement in community-scale microgrid development, delivering on-demand short-and-long-duration energy storage solutions and savings to customers.

Construction on the storage system will begin in the fourth quarter of 2023, and commercial operation is expected by the second quarter of 2024, with the potential to further expand the project's capacity in the future up to 700 MWh. The expansion would enable the storage system to operate for longer without refueling and deliver additional on-demand renewable energy capacity to Calistoga residents. Upon reaching commercial operation, the storage system will be the largest utility-scale green hydrogen project in the United States. The Orrick team was led by Rohit Sachdev and included Peter Richmond.