Electric generating plantEIA plant no. 65889

Nighthawk Energy Storage, LLC

Type
Batteries
Nameplate capacity
300 MW
Units
1
Operator
Nighthawk Energy Storage, LLC
Location
Poway, San Diego County, California
Rated 75th largest in California · 1055th of 14,017 in the U.S. · by nameplate

Nighthawk Energy Storage, LLC is a battery storage power plant in California with a nameplate capacity of 300 MW.

The 300 MW is nameplate capacity: the most this plant's generators are rated to produce, not what it actually generates. EPA eGRID reports no positive net generation for it this year.

How it works

A battery storage site

charge middaydischarge evening1battery containers2inverters, both ways3the grid
  1. Rows of shipping-container-sized battery racks store electricity chemically.
  2. Inverters charge them from the grid — often midday, when solar is plentiful and cheap.
  3. In the evening peak the same inverters run the other way and send power back.

Why the numbers look like this: every charge-and-discharge cycle loses some energy as heat, so a storage site usually reports slightly negative net generation: it takes in a little more than it gives back. Its job is timing, not making energy.

This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.

Natural GasSolarBiomassBattery Storage

Location

AddressTbd
CityPoway
CountySan Diego County
StateCalifornia
ZIP92064
Coordinates32.93396, -117.03799
OperatorNighthawk Energy Storage, LLC

Generators (1)

IDTechnologyFuelNameplate capacityStatusOnline
BESSBatteriesBattery300 MWUnder Construction—

Grid context

NERC RegionWECC
Balancing AuthorityCalifornia Independent System Operator

About Battery Storage plants

Battery storage facilities don't generate electricity — they store it. They charge from the grid (often from solar during the day) and discharge during peak demand or to firm up renewables. EIA classifies them as power plants because they connect to the grid like one.

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