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A fire has broken out at a California power plant that is home to the
largest battery storage facility in the world, as hazmat teams warn
residents to close all windows and doors.

The blast at the Moss Landing plant sent huge flames billowing from the building as black smoke drifted from the scene. The County of Monterey
issued a statement saying: "North Monterey County Fire Department is
currently responding to a fire at Moss Landing Power Plant."

Fire officials are urging residents in the area to close all doors and
windows and evacuation orders have been issued for zones MRY-B037, MRY-
B047, MRY-B050, MRY-B051, MRY-B053, MRY-B058 and MRY-B060. Residents are
also requested to stay out of the area to allow for access of emergency vehicles.

The plant had previously caught fire back in September 2022 when one of
the plant's independent battery storage station caught fire. The station
were restarted in December 2022 after Energy Safety Response Group (ESRG),
an independent energy safety consulting, completed an investigation of the incident and PG&E, and Tesla the supplier of the batteries "implemented corrective actions and conducted extensive system testing," according to a press release from PG&E.

It is unclear at this time the same area of the plant is involved in the current incident but ESRG's report from 2022 found that the fire was
caused by "an equipment installation issue resulting in water ingress
caused the battery’s cells to overheat and catch fire," the release said.

"NCFPD is aware and engaged at the Moss Landing Power Facility with all resources. We are attempting to mitigate the situation and gather as much information as we can. Please follow all guidelines being put out by
safety personnel and stand by for more information," the department wrote
in a statement on Facebook.

The plant is owned and operated by Houston-based Dynegy, a subsidiary of
Vistra Corp.

Highway 1 in the area has been closed as a result of the fire, KION
reported citing the California Highway Patrol.

Lithium ion batteries pose a particularly dangerous problem for the area
as they are very difficult to extinguish and release heavily toxic smoke.

The plant was commissioned in 1950 and primarily has served as a natural
gas plant. The facility's battery storage stations, known as the Vistra
and Elkhorn stations were completed in 2019 and 2022 respectively but
various expansions of the stations capacity have taken place since their initial completion. The 2022 incident involved only the Elkhorn station, according to PG&E. The Elkhorn and Vistra station have a storage
capacities of 182.5 MW / 730 MWh and 750 MW / 3,000 MWh respectively
making them some of the largest battery storage facilities in the world.
Vistra was constructed by Dynegy, a subsidiary of the plants owner Vistra
Corp, while the batteries in the Elkhorn station were provided by Tesla, according to PG&E.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fire-erupts-at-tesla-battery- storage-plant-as-residents-told-close-all-windows-and-doors/ar-AA1xlfsd

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