Massive fire erupts at world's largest battery plant in California, forcing evacuations

zohaibahd

zohaibahd

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What just happened? A major fire broke out at Moss Landing, Vistra Energy's massive battery storage facility, which is said to be the largest in the world. Huge flames and thick plumes of hazardous black smoke reportedly poured from the plant, prompting evacuations in the surrounding area.

The blaze was first reported around 3 p.m. local time at the site, located just off Highway 1 along California's Central Coast. Monterey County officials swiftly issued evacuation orders as the inferno raged unchecked into the evening hours. Nearby residents were also advised to shelter in place and seal windows and doors to avoid exposure to potentially toxic fumes, according to Mercury News.

Vistra, the Texas-based owner of the natural gas power plant and adjoining lithium-ion battery complex, confirmed that personnel had been evacuated after the fire erupted.

The fire reportedly originated in the 300-megawatt Phase I section of the 750-megawatt facility, located on the site of a retired PG&E natural gas plant. A company spokesperson stated that the cause remains unknown but will be thoroughly investigated.

The dramatic scenes served as a stark reminder of the risks associated with utility-scale battery farms, as California races to expand massive energy storage to support its clean energy goals. The Moss Landing site reached its impressive 750-megawatt capacity in 2023 – enough to power over half a million homes for up to four hours. However, the state projects that it must triple its energy storage capacity by 2045 to meet demand and achieve net-zero emissions.

This isn't the first time the Moss Landing battery plant has experienced a fire, as a malfunctioning heat detector triggered an incident back in 2021.

These safety concerns have fueled pushback against such projects in some coastal communities. For instance, residents in Morro Bay approved a ballot measure last November blocking permits for a new Vistra battery complex near a local power plant. However, it's unlikely to halt the state-approved plan.

Lithium battery fires like this are notoriously difficult to extinguish due to the extreme heat and noxious gases they release. Fire crews face significant challenges in bringing the blaze under control while minimizing risks of respiratory issues and chemical exposure.

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Massive fire erupts at world's largest battery plant in California, forcing evacuations

 
Mmm, this is way better for the environment than burning natural gas. Lovely, just lovely. Batteries cannot be setup like this, otherwise they’ll all combust and you have a major health and environmental crisis on your hands. Batteries need to be local to the device, or home, rather than grouped up in battery storage like this.
 
" the state projects that it must triple its energy storage capacity by 2045 to meet demand and achieve net-zero emissions."

Well.........the amount of emissions they just emitted pretty much defeats the entire purpose of their "net-zero emissions" for much longer than the remaining 20 years they had. Perhaps focus on this things we can change today with reasonable timelines.

Makes me think of this "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

But it's California, you guy's have some real winners making the rules and plans down there. Sure blame the cows and the meat eaters.
 
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Fyi there are two battery plants in Moss Landing, and the other one "Elkhorn" which was built by Tesla for PG&E for the more local grid (regional 115 kV) wasn't affected. The Vistra plant had 3000 MWh of capacity while the Elkhorn plant has 730MWh of capacity.
 
To my understanding Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry makes vastly more sense for stationary storage. LFP's main con is that it isn't as energy dense as other chemistries but if you have acres of space, who cares. With its advantages of cheap, generally incombustible, less temperature/performance sensitive, and no large capacity degradation when charging to 100% - I don't really get it, why isn't it used in grid storage more?

With LFP's no-go-kablooie feature, we wouldn't have these news articles.
 
Nature of life transitioning to new techs,methods processes

Since I love quoting fun facts here's another

Britain use to lead the way in passenger jets aka Havilland Comet
Later with the French- Concorde

But due to mishaps ( ie nice big windows )

They backed off and chickened out

Leaving an easy run for American companies
Do you think Elon backed off mishaps in Space X

Mere teething problems - even spiders and the Scots need 8 attempts

No point gloating over So Cal, the tech is here to stay - even before this, the grid was developed as power gen and usage didn't really match up that great

Also those articles we lament on new battery tech -means we will get safer storage , production in the long run

Can't see cars, guns, alcohol, beaches with rip tides, deaths from prescription drugs being banned any time soon

With new Admin coming in - will such accidents decline with more oversight and protection regulations - or are those just red tape to exploitation and inconvenient accountability
 
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Joey Rakas said:
" the state projects that it must triple its energy storage capacity by 2045 to meet demand and achieve net-zero emissions."

Well.........the amount of emissions they just emitted pretty much defeats the entire purpose of their "net-zero emissions" for much longer than the remaining 20 years they had. Perhaps focus on this things we can change today with reasonable timelines.

Makes me think of this "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

But it's California, you guy's have some real winners making the rules and plans down there. Sure blame the cows and the meat eaters.
Click to expand...
Your argument might carry some weight, but its not CA blaming cows and meat eaters. Its other factions of the "environmental" movement.
 
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Impudicus said:
And now California has contributed more to global warming than any other state.
Click to expand...

- I mean, we have 40 million people ofc we're going to contribute more to global warming than any other state.

I'm a strong proponent of shipping all the out of staters back to whatever shithole state they came from though, it's crowded out here.
 
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No worries. They have made sure they have no water for fighting fire to support the environment.
Besides, it's got to be Trump's fault anyway.
 
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Joey Rakas said:
" the state projects that it must triple its energy storage capacity by 2045 to meet demand and achieve net-zero emissions."

Well.........the amount of emissions they just emitted pretty much defeats the entire purpose of their "net-zero emissions" for much longer than the remaining 20 years they had. Perhaps focus on this things we can change today with reasonable timelines.

Makes me think of this "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

But it's California, you guy's have some real winners making the rules and plans down there. Sure blame the cows and the meat eaters.
Click to expand...
People only make mistakes in Cali.
Noted.

Seriously, you give humans as a whole too much credit, or this is for clicks, because people make big mistakes all the time. Train derailments totalling towns. There are oil spills etc.... but yea, batteries are the final straw.

Gimme a break.
 
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They might realize that these batteries require bigger distance between them. Something like 20 cells, each guaranteed to not spread fire to its neighbors. Space costs money, but at least, this is not a car where space is literally under 2 meters.
 
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hahahanoobs said:
People only make mistakes in Cali.
Noted.

Seriously, you give humans as a whole too much credit, or this is for clicks, because people make big mistakes all the time. Train derailments totalling towns. There are oil spills etc.... but yea, batteries are the final straw.

Gimme a break.
Click to expand...
It's the point. Yes many terrible things happen all the time, I very much agree. Much get's swept under the rug. But that's there the point isn't it? The very people pushing for "zero emissions" are the ones creating and or allowing catastrophes around the globe. Ones that impact humanity on a greater scale than we can possibly know or truly detect. And then to just get swept under the rug. I for one won't be drinking any water out of East Palestine, Ohio, nor the place where the largest battery plant in the world just caught ablaze. I came to Techspot first thing this morning for any hardware news, and noticed this article. It seemed TechSpot cared more for humanity than FOX, CNN or any of the local news stations. One of the largest battery plants in the world catching fire, seems like more dire headline news then what Donald Trump, or Joe Biden may or may not have said. As someone who lives in the PNW, what effects California, greatly effects it's neighboring states. California, Oregon, and Washington. Especially in regards to climate related issues(like really unhealthy air) and political elements. California is certainly leading by example here. Well if I have learned anything from the tech industry recently; Ai will certainty have a solution for all these issues. Not to worry.
 
Joey Rakas said:
It's the point. Yes many terrible things happen all the time, I very much agree. Much get's swept under the rug. But that's there the point isn't it? The very people pushing for "zero emissions" are the ones creating and or allowing catastrophes around the globe. Ones that impact humanity on a greater scale than we can possibly know or truly detect. And then to just get swept under the rug. I for one won't be drinking any water out of East Palestine, Ohio, nor the place where the largest battery plant in the world just caught ablaze. I came to Techspot first thing this morning for any hardware news, and noticed this article. It seemed TechSpot cared more for humanity than FOX, CNN or any of the local news stations. One of the largest battery plants in the world catching fire, seems like more dire headline news then what Donald Trump, or Joe Biden may or may not have said. As someone who lives in the PNW, what effects California, greatly effects it's neighboring states. California, Oregon, and Washington. Especially in regards to climate related issues(like really unhealthy air) and political elements. California is certainly leading by example here. Well if I have learned anything from the tech industry recently; Ai will certainty have a solution for all these issues. Not to worry.
Click to expand...
I'd be very interested in looking at your source links.
 
BobDolesGhost said:
To my understanding Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry makes vastly more sense for stationary storage. LFP's main con is that it isn't as energy dense as other chemistries but if you have acres of space, who cares. With its advantages of cheap, generally incombustible, less temperature/performance sensitive, and no large capacity degradation when charging to 100% - I don't really get it, why isn't it used in grid storage more?

With LFP's no-go-kablooie feature, we wouldn't have these news articles.
Click to expand...

Almost all sites use LFP these days. They still can go kablooie though but yes, a lot better. However I'd be surprised if this site was not LFP, if it was recently installed. I've not seen any non-LFP sites come across my desk in the last 18 months. I work in the industry and have looked at a lot of projects around the world.
 
trparky said:
Far more than a few hundred cars and trucks on the road, I can assure you of that... guaranteed!
Click to expand...
Ah, some more, "trust me, bro" garbage.

The transportation sector is the largest source of direct greenhouse gas emissions and second largest source when indirect emissions from electricity end-use are allocated across sectors.

Texas

Overall, Texas is responsible for the most carbon emissions in the United States, at 706.5 million metric tons.

Bonus:
  • Agriculture – Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture come from livestock such as cows, agricultural soils, and rice production. Indirect emissions from electricity use in agricultural activities (e.g., powering buildings and equipment) are about 5 percent of direct emissions.
please do your research before joining a conversation. things go much smoother that way.
 
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Inthenstus said:
Mmm, this is way better for the environment than burning natural gas. Lovely, just lovely. Batteries cannot be setup like this, otherwise they’ll all combust and you have a major health and environmental crisis on your hands. Batteries need to be local to the device, or home, rather than grouped up in battery storage like this.
Click to expand...

Have you seen what happens when people build towns, in dry areas, with no water, and plenty of dry or dead vegitation?
When you think profits outweigh the consequences of either building with proper contingencies and infrastructures.
The old 'they can't sue if their dead mentality'.

This is amazing.
 
3volv3d said:
I think it goes without saying doesn't it? Everyone drives a hummer. You can't get a hummer without one.... Wait what?
Click to expand...
What is this fear of proving publicly made claims? We have the internet you know? You know, for research. Do you hate books too?

Are you also part of the Trustmebro news media? Asking for a friend.
 
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