A large battery power plant is on fire in California.
Evacuation orders were issued by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.
A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, located in central California, on Thursday. This battery plant, which the company Vistra claims is the largest in the world, has raised concerns within the community. As a precautionary measure, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office ordered the evacuation of nearby residents and closed sections of Highway 1.
County health authorities have also advised those who are not evacuated to remain indoors, with windows and doors closed, and to turn off ventilation systems. Glen Church, the Monterey County supervisor, described the situation as a disaster, emphasizing the severity of the moment in statements to a local media outlet.
Vistra has stated that it will conduct an investigation to determine the causes of the fire once it has been extinguished, according to spokesperson Jenny Lyon. The company, which has not immediately responded to an inquiry, recently completed an expansion of the facility, adding over 110,000 essential battery modules to store renewable energy. These storage facilities are crucial for ensuring that power grids have enough solar and wind energy when generation decreases.
This is not the first time that battery fires have occurred in this area. In 2022, another fire affected a battery plant owned by Pacific Gas & Electric that was storing Tesla batteries. Additionally, the previous year, Vistra had to temporarily shut down its plant in Moss Landing due to a malfunctioning smoke detector and heat suppression system, which resulted in water being sprayed on the batteries. Notably, the current fire is not related to other blazes that are severely affecting Los Angeles County.