(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Berkshire Hathaway-backed Chinese battery and vehicle manufacturer BYD Co., Ltd. is partnering with Canadian Solar Inc. to provide advanced battery technology for the 100 MWac Mustang solar plant in Kings County, California.
Located in California’s Central Valley, the Mustang solar power project produces enough clean electricity to power approximately 45,000 homes. Sonoma Clean Power and MCE are purchasing this electricity under long-term power purchase agreements.
The 75 MW or 4-hour 300 MWh energy storage system is a retrofit addition to the Mustang solar plant which was originally developed by Canadian Solar’s wholly-owned subsidiary Recurrent Energy.
For the Mustang project, BYD will utilize Cube Pro, the latest generation energy storage solution designed for larger utility-scale projects. At 2.5 MWh per unit, the Cube Pro has a new liquid-cool battery system in the enclosure, with an energy density increase of 80% compared to the previous generation that used customized shipping containers as the enclosure.
“We are excited to partner with Canadian Solar on this solution. We are very proud to be able to provide reliable and safe BYD technology to the Mustang project,” said BYD North America President Stella Li. “We will deliver the lithium-ion battery storage solution to Canadian Solar, who acts as the full system integrator of the storage retrofit.”
Mustang Solar Project Overview from Recurrent Energy on Vimeo.
By pairing solar PV with advanced battery technology, Canadian Solar helps its customers to generate and store solar power during the day for use in the evening. This approach allows California’s power grid to absorb and integrate higher levels of reliable, safe, and affordable renewable energy while contributing to the state’s climate mitigation efforts.
“We are pleased to start supplying this large-scale solar plus energy storage project which will be fully developed and integrated by Canadian Solar with our proprietary battery technology. The adoption and integration of BYD’s batteries will improve the utilization of solar energy and meaningfully enlarge our global addressable market in the solar industry.”
BYD has been committed to the North America Energy Storage market for almost a decade, with the first MW-scale project deployed in the U.S. in 2011. It has remained a market leader since then.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million has grown in value sixteen-fold.
© 2020 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.