Serving California’s PG&E, the world’s first ultra-long duration hybrid green hydrogen storage microgrid moving forward – air quality is important

Westlake Village, California – (Business News) – Energy Safe Holdings Company… (“Energy Safe” or “Company”), a leader in sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, today [Apr. 1, 2025] Announced a successful closing price of US$28 million, and the project financing was successfully completed by its Calistoga Resilience Center (CRC). Financing includes completing the completion of the CRC-related investment tax credit (ITC). This marks an important milestone in the implementation of its growth strategy for owning and operating energy storage assets, which the company first outlined on May 2024 Investors and Analysts Day.

Currently under field commissioning, Calistoga Resilience Center, developed by Energy Vault, aims to reach a fee contract with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), is a state-of-the-art hybrid microgrid energy storage facility that integrates advanced hydrogen fuel cells into a lithium-ion battery, which is combined with lithium-ion batteries specifically targeting the increasing texture, given the increasing challenges and challenges to wild wild risks, the agency aims to address increasing resilience. As climate change continues to increase the frequency and severity of fire-prone conditions, utilities must sometimes implement public safety power shutdown (PSP) events to prevent potential fire from electrical equipment in extreme weather events.

Energy Vault’s CRC provides a unique and fully sustainable solution to this challenge by enabling the isolated Calistoga community microgrid to maintain power during these necessary safe shutdowns. The 293 MWH microgrid system provides a continuous energy supply of approximately 48 hours during the PSPS event with a peak power output of 8.5 mW. When operating in island mode, the CRC uses green hydrogen in the fuel cell to generate electricity, providing the basic power for the community. After supporting the black start-up and mesh formation requirements of the microgrid, Energy Vault’s B-Vault™ DC battery technology is used in conjunction with fuel cells to ensure instantaneous response and maintain grid stability throughout operation. CRC has achieved mechanical completion, the system is now under commissioning and is expected to be fully commercially operated in 2025 in the second quarter.

The zero-emission system is consistent with California’s Renewable Product Portfolio Standard (RPS) while meeting PG&E’s multi-day duration energy storage requirements. The entire microgrid is carefully curated by Energy Vault’s technology-Agile Vaultos™ Energy Management System, enabling black startup, grid formation and seamless performance orchestration while communicating with PG&E’s distribution control center.

CRC is a model of Energy Vault’s future utility-scale hybrid microgrid storage system, and it is the only existing zero-emission solution that solves scalable and ready for deployment in California and other wildfire-prone areas.

“The successful financing of the Calistoga Resilience Center represents the focus and execution of our team starting in 2025, by replenishing cash from the balance sheet of the previous year to the balance sheet that builds the system,” said Robert Piconi, chairman and CEO of Energy Insurance. “This is the first of two energy storage assets expected online this quarter, as we execute ‘self and operate’ asset management strategies, and we hope to start generating predictable, recurring and high-margin revenue streams in the coming years,” Piconi continued. “As California faces increased risk of wildfires, CRC demonstrates how advanced energy storage technologies can help communities maintain critical services and safety during necessary power shutdowns. The facility will play a crucial role in ensuring energy resilience for the Calistoga community during PSPS activities, while maintaining our focus on innovative and sustainable carbon-containing energy solutions.”

The success of the project financing follows plans first proposed by the Energy Insurer on Investor and Analyst Day in May 2024, demonstrating the company’s ability to execute in its strategic vision while maximizing the capital efficiency of its “Original and Operations” strategy. This milestone reflects the significant positive interest of both strategic partners and investors in the attractive IRN economics, which positioned the continued growth of the rapidly growing energy storage asset infrastructure market for the energy vault. As previously announced, Energy Vault has implemented a binding agreement to monetize its additional ITC tax credits and provide security project financing for its Cross Trail and client R&D Center Microgrid projects, and is jointly introduced on neighboring land parcels in Snyder, Texas.

Source: “Energy Vault successfully completed a $28 million project financing for the Calistoga Resilience Center, the world’s first PG&E to hybrid green hydrogen energy storage Microgroid Serving California,” April 1, 2025.

Updated: April 2, 2025, 9:24 AM PDT.

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