US-based company Strata Solar has selected Tesla to build 100MW/400MWh Ventura Energy Storage (VES) facility in Ventura County, California in the US.

Under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, Tesla will be responsible for deploying its integrated battery storage system Megapack at the project.

To be located on a brownfield site in a private industrial park, the project will have the capacity to provide on-demand power to around 80,000 homes and businesses.

Ventura County CEO Mike Powers said: “The Project will help to ensure local energy reliability, and in the event of a Public Safety Power Shutoff the facility will convey stored energy to the grid, providing power to our local homes and businesses.

“This will help keep the lights on when some need it most. We appreciate these types of projects especially as we adopt strategies to stimulate our local economy following the economic impacts of COVID-19.”

Pre-construction development completed for VES facility

Strata Solar said it has completed the pre-construction development and signed all necessary commercial agreements for the project.

Construction on the energy storage project is scheduled to commence in July 2020.

The power generated by Strata Solar’s Ventura Energy Storage project will be sold to Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed last year.

Oxnard Mayor Pro-Tem Carmen Ramirez said: “On behalf of the people of Oxnard, congratulations to Strata Solar for investing in our community with the Ventura Energy Storage clean energy facility, partially replacing the obsolete technology of once-through-cooling plants that Oxnard’s coast has hosted for decades.”

Strata Solar said that the equity interest in the project is scheduled to close in the second quarter.