Sixty miles from my house in Silicon Valley is a quiet village called Moss Landing. It is home to the Vistra Energy battery storage plant, connected to the Moss Landing Power Plant. Geographically, it is located on the coast between San Francisco and Silicon Valley to its north and Monterey, California, to its south. This location is the site of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facility.
A fire broke out at this storage facility last Friday, sending towering flames and black smoke into the night sky and forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people.
The battery storage facility contains thousands of lithium batteries. These batteries store electricity from renewable energy sources like solar energy. Most electric vehicles use these same types of batteries. The tech industry uses lithium-ion batteries to power most laptops, tablets, and smartphones. My electric bike and scooter use them, too…