100 MW/400 MWh Fluence Energy Storage Project For Long Beach — World’s Largest Li-Ion Battery Storage Project

on January 30, 2018

energy storage cleantechnicaAES Energy Storage and Siemens have joined forces to create a new energy storage company called Fluence Energy, which we mentioned recently in a story about the breakthrough prices of renewable energy + storage projects. Fluence COO John Zahurancik has since answered some questions for CleanTechnica about the new company and one of its major new energy storage projects.

What is the purpose of the Long Beach 100 MW/400 MWh energy storage project?

The project has been in development as part of a $2 billion repowering project in Long Beach, CA to replace aging natural gas peakers with a combination of more modern/efficient combined-cycle gas capacity and the world’s largest battery energy storage facility. The 100 MW system will provide critical capacity to meet local reliability needs in the area, while helping California meet its environmental goals.

How long will it take to construct the huge energy storage installation?

Construction for the Alamitos energy storage project will start later this year and is targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

Can you reveal the cost?

The pricing for this system is confidential under the terms of our contract.

What is the expected life cycle or longevity of the batteries?

The Alamitos project is contracted under a 20-year power purchase agreement, and the Fluence array is designed to ensure the system meets the PPA requirements over the full life of the contract.

Do you anticipate that you will be installing other energy storage facilities with the same or similar capacity?

We’re in a scaling-up period for energy storage that’s gaining speed every year. The rise of battery energy storage is similar in scale to that experienced by the solar industry between 2000 and 2015. Utilities and other customers around the globe see that the technology is mature, and the Fluence team has delivered projects for all 8 core energy storage applications on the electric grid over a decade of experience designing, deploying, and operating complete energy storage solutions. However, as we’ve done so, we’ve seen just how many places on the grid storage can provide value where the technology has yet to be adopted.

With the widespread deployment of storage changing the fundamentals of the electric power sector, we anticipate installing other facilities in the future with not just the same, but with both more and less capacity. In many power systems, having multiple 50-megawatt systems at different parts of the grid may more provide flexibility and reliability benefits than having a single 200-megawatt system.

For us, it’s about deploying the right solution at the right scale to solve customers’ energy problems, and prioritizing lasting partnerships to provide the most value over simply delivering products.

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CleanTechnica100 MW/400 MWh Fluence Energy Storage Project For Long Beach — World’s Largest Li-Ion Battery Storage Project

Santander Invests £28.5 Million In Battery Energy Storage Solutions

on January 18, 2018

energy storage cleantechnicaSpanish banking giant Santander has announced this week it will invest £28.5 million into London-based Battery Energy Storage Solutions for the express purpose of building and operating a grid-scale battery storage portfolio of 100 megawatts by the end of the year.

Battery Energy Storage Solutions (BESS), a London-based independent provider of power storage, energy security, and energy flexibility services, owns and operates five operational sites in the UK and boasts a large pipeline of projects for imminent delivery. The company was only formed in March of 2017 by leading energy storage executive experts, and as of the end of 2017 the company owned and operated 14 megawatts (MW) worth of grid-scale battery storage projects, and had a further 49 MW worth of grid-connected batteries to be connected by the end of this month.

Santander UK, the UK subsidiary of Spanish banking giant Santander Bank, N. A., announced last week that it was committing £28.5 million to BESS in an effort to support the company’s plans to become one of the UK’s largest independent owner-operators of battery storage assets and to meet their short-term strategy of building and operating a portfolio of 100 MW worth of grid-scale battery storage assets by the end of 2018.

The timing of Santander’s investment — and that of the creation of BESS itself — stems from efforts to capitalize on the booming energy efficiency and energy storage industries across the UK. Battery storage technologies are also obviously tailor-made to partner with renewable energy technologies, which have similarly exploded in the UK over the last few years, and in 2017 the country broke 13 separate records, including the first 24-hour period without coal-generated power, the first time that wind, nuclear, and solar produced more than coal and gas, and the “greenest summer” with 52% of electricity generated from low-carbon sources.

“The UK’s power system is now the fourth cleanest in Europe,” said Nicholas Beatty, co-founder of Battery Energy Storage Solutions. “However, the pace of transition to a low carbon power system brings with it challenges for the National Grid in balancing the network and ensuring supply and demand is matched on a second by second basis. Such balancing of supply and demand only being possible by the introduction of new technologies like battery storage. We believe our company is uniquely placed to capture that market demand. We value the guidance and support provided by the Santander deal team in this complex transaction.”

“We are delighted to have closed this landmark transaction with a new client in a new niche market segment: project finance for battery storage,” said Howard Whitehead, Head of Infrastructure & Renewable Energy, Santander Corporate & Commercial. “We believe we are one of the first senior debt lenders to close a project finance transaction in this space, a fact which underscores Santander’s desire to be a leader in this fast developing sector.”

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CleanTechnicaSantander Invests £28.5 Million In Battery Energy Storage Solutions

New Energy Storage Breakthroughs Sweeten Outlook For EV Market

on January 16, 2018

energy storage cleantechnicaA new survey of automakers from the leading research group KPMG points to a gloomy future ahead for the electric vehicle market, but the naysayers don’t appear to be taking energy storage breakthroughs into account. In the latest development, new research headed up by Brookhaven National Laboratory points the way to reducing battery charging times, a key obstacle cited by auto industry executives in the survey.

Auto Execs Still Not Sure About Electric Vehicles…

On the surface, the new KPMG electric vehicle survey paints a sad face on the electric vehicle market. Under the title, “2018 KPMG Global Automotive Executive Survey,” the research firm presents this finding from the responses of about 1,000 executives:

Despite the hype and massive automotive OEM investment in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), more than half (54%) of global auto executives say they believe these vehicles will fail commercially due to infrastructure challenges while 60 percent say excessive recharging times will do them in…

Ouch!

90 of the respondents are based in the US. Not surprisingly, the survey finds the US group to be “far more skeptical than their global counterparts.”

It also appears that automakers are having a tough time convincing the general public that all-electric transport is the way to go. KPMG surveyed 2,100 consumers in 42 countries including the US:

Only 13% of consumer respondents outside the United States and 5% in the U.S., said they would buy a pure battery electric vehicle over the next five years.

The relatively low interest among US consumers is not surprising, either. The disparity between US and global attitudes comes into even sharper focus when consumers are asked about buying hybrid EVs:

…50% of consumers outside of the United States indicate they would opt for a hybrid — hybrid electric (33%) or plug-in hybrid electric (17%) vehicles — over the next five years, or internal combustion engine (18%). U.S. consumers, on the other hand, say they’ll stick with ICE vehicles (54%), followed by hybrid electric (24%).

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CleanTechnicaNew Energy Storage Breakthroughs Sweeten Outlook For EV Market

Tesla Grid Storage Battery Reacts Insanely Fast To Coal Power Outage

on December 29, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaLast spring, Elon Musk made a daring bet. He claimed he could build and install the world’s largest grid storage battery in South Australia within 100 days of the date a contract was signed or the system would be free. The contract was signed on September 29. Installation was completed by the third week of November. On December 2, the giant 129 MWh system was activated.

On December 14, the Loy Yang coal power plant — one of the largest in Australia — suddenly went offline. In an instant, the grid shed 560 MW of electricity, enough to power 170,000 homes. 600 miles away, the Hornsdale Power Reserve battery system, as the Tesla system is officially known, kicked in within 140 milliseconds. It reacted so quickly, in fact, that the local grid operator was unable to measure the response time accurately. 100 MW of power suddenly surged into the grid, buying valuable time for other power sources to come to the rescue. Utility customers were largely unaware that anything unusual had happened. That’s how good grid batteries work.

State energy minister Tom Koutsantonis told local radio station 5AA afterwards, “That’s a record and the national operators were shocked at how quickly and efficiently the battery was able to deliver this type of energy into the market. Until now, if we got a call to turn on our emergency generators it would take us 10 to 15 minutes to get them fired up and operating which is a record time compared to other generators,” Mr Koutsantonis said according to the Financial Review.

This is actually a benefit of grid-storage batteries that we highlighted years ago after touring the Younicos facility in Berlin. Here are a couple of telling charts from that visit that not only highlight how quickly batteries can respond, but also how cleanly they match the needs.

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CleanTechnicaTesla Grid Storage Battery Reacts Insanely Fast To Coal Power Outage

South Korea Aim: 5 Times More Solar Energy Generation By 2030

on December 27, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaThe government of South Korea has unveiled new plans for the country to boost its solar energy generation 5 times over by 2030, as revealed by the country’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The news follows on earlier campaign promises by the relatively new President, Moon Jae-in — campaign promises to cease support for new nuclear energy projects and to embrace “eco friendly” energy modalities. The new president has more or less kept his word, as the government has now cancelled plans for 6 new nuclear reactors.

That said, South Korea still represents the 5th largest nuclear energy user in the world — with a total of 24 nuclear reactors now active in the country, altogether meeting around a third of its electricity demand.

Commenting on the plans, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Paik Un-gyu, stated: “We will fundamentally change the way renewable energy is developed by creating an environment where the public can easily participate in the renewable energy business.”

Reuters provides more: “South Korea plans to provide a fifth of the country’s total amount of electricity from renewable energy by 2030, up from 7% in 2016. To meet that goal, it plans to add 30.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar power generating capacity and 16.5 GW of wind power capacity by 2030. As of 2017, South Korea has 5.7 GW of generating capacity from solar power and 1.2 GW from wind power.

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CleanTechnicaSouth Korea Aim: 5 Times More Solar Energy Generation By 2030

BNEF Predicts Explosive Energy Storage Growth On Both Sides Of The Meter

on November 27, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaThe latest “Energy storage forecast 2016–2030” from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts explosive growth in energy storage over the next 12 years. BNEF says storage will grow in much the same way that solar power grew between 2010 and 2015. Solar power expanded 700% during that time. It sees a six fold increase in energy storage to 305 gigawatt-hours between now and the year 2030. Making that happen will require an investment in excess of $100 billion.

The United States is expected to be responsible for a quarter of the new storage capacity, with the remainder spread among nations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. China, Japan, India, Germany, Australia, South Korea, and the UK will play a major role in the expansion, according to BNEF. “Energy storage, both utility-scale and behind-the-meter, will be a crucial source of flexibility throughout this period and will be essential to integrating increasing levels of renewable energy,” reads a statement from the BNEF staff.

The International Renewable Energy Agency says battery storage worldwide totaled only 1 gigawatt-hour at the beginning of 2017. Its prediction is that there will be 250 gigawatt-hours of storage installed by 2030. Either way, the increase in energy storage should be nothing short of meteoric in the coming decade or so.

One aspect of the latest advisory from BNEF that has gone under-reported is this — BNEF expects fully 50% of that increase in energy storage to take place “behind the meter.” In other words, storage by large commercial actors such as Walmart, Google, Amazon, and other large businesses, combined with residential solutions, will account for more of the new storage capacity as grid-scale storage for utilities.

BNEF says, “Utility-scale storage will be built to provide system-level services in the near term, but aggregating behind-the-meter energy storage becomes a viable alternative as the market for customer-sited storage grows. By 2030, behind-the-meter systems will represent over half of total capacity. These systems can also provide services such as frequency regulation and peaking capacity, on top of the savings they generate for customers.” It expects $30 billion will be invested in residential storage during this expansion phase.

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CleanTechnicaBNEF Predicts Explosive Energy Storage Growth On Both Sides Of The Meter

Vanadium Flow Batteries for Cost-Effective Energy Storage: An Interview with Angelo D’Anzi, CTO of StorEn Technologies

on November 25, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaStorEn Technology* is developing a new generation of vanadium flow batteries to meet the growing market demand for cost-effective energy storage.

Unlike conventional batteries that store their reactive materials within their cells, vanadium flow batteries are a type of rechargeable battery in which the energy is stored chemically in a liquid electrolyte contained in two tanks.

Stor.En has developed Multigrid™ technology that improves the electrical efficiency of the stack, helping reduce costs for storage solutions for residential, industrial, or utility needs.

The following is an interview with StorEn’s Chief Technology Officer, Angelo D’An

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CleanTechnicaVanadium Flow Batteries for Cost-Effective Energy Storage: An Interview with Angelo D’Anzi, CTO of StorEn Technologies

Tesla Completes World’s Largest Li-ion Battery (129 MWh) In South Australia (#NotFree)

on November 24, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaTesla has now finished construction work on the 129 megawatt-hour (MWh) energy storage facility that it was contracted to build in South Australia, the government of the region has revealed.

The news means that Tesla has finished construction well before its self-imposed 100-day deadline — which means that Tesla won’t be providing the installation free of charge to South Australia (the promise had been “100 days from contract signature or it is free”). To clarify, that meant within 100 days of the signing of a grid connection agreement (which was signed on September 29th).

The facility reportedly now represents the world’s largest lithium-ion battery energy storage installation — dwarfing most others. The large size was important to help South Australia avoid power supply issues, which have been topics of much news coverage and political rugby ball in recent times.

Reuters provides more context on how quickly Tesla got the job done, and touches on other matters I’m sure readers are interested in: “When the grid connection deal was signed on Sept 29, Tesla was already half way through installing the battery packs. The Tesla Powerpacks have now been fully installed at a wind farm run by France’s Neoen, and testing is set to begin to provide grid security services in South Australia. … The state has yet to say how much it would pay for the battery, which is part of a A$510 million ($390 million) plan that includes diesel-fired generators to help keep the lights on following a string of blackouts over the past 18 months.”

“While others are just talking, we are delivering our energy plan, making South Australia more self-sufficient, and providing back up power and more affordable energy for South Australians this summer,” commented South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill.

While the new energy storage installation will no doubt be helpful in dealing with grid supply over the coming years, there will still be a tight power supply this summer — particularly in South Australia and in Victoria — owing to the recent closure of a large coal-fired power plant. That’s according to Australia’s energy market operator. So, don’t expect that this giant 129 MWh Tesla Powerpack facility gets the region completely out of the woods.

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CleanTechnicaTesla Completes World’s Largest Li-ion Battery (129 MWh) In South Australia (#NotFree)

Navigant Research Identifies 1,700 Energy Storage Projects

on November 23, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaThe growth of energy storage from a complementary but ultimately unnecessary addition to renewable energy projects to a valuable standalone commodity has rocked the energy world and even entrenched fossil fuel-dependent countries like Australia, and new figures from Navigant Research identify over 1,700 energy storage projects around the world.

Clean energy technology research firm Navigant Research published its Energy Storage Tracker 3Q17 report this week in which it identifies more than 1,700 energy storage projects worldwide, well up from the 1,420 energy storage projects in existence identified in the first quarter of this year. The following chart outlines new deployed storage power capacity across global markets year-to-date through to the end of the third-quarter of 2017:

“The global energy storage industry is poised to continue to grow quickly over the next several years, especially in emerging economies,” said Ian McClenny, research analyst with Navigant Research. “With emerging infrastructure becoming increasingly integrated, dynamic, and complex, flexible resources like storage will provide added value to existing and new power generating assets.”

Further, improvements in energy storage technologies, developing regional regulatory and market drivers, and emerging new business models are all poised to drive the growth of the energy storage industry, according to Navigant Research. More than growth in the sector itself, Navigant predicts a growing need for energy storage around the world.

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CleanTechnicaNavigant Research Identifies 1,700 Energy Storage Projects

What Changed In The Solar Energy & Storage Markets In October?

on November 15, 2017

energy storage cleantechnicaThe largest renewable energy acquisition in history — that big enough for you? Global Infrastructure Partners bought Asia-Pacific’s largest independent renewable energy power producer, Equis Energy, to set the record. The acquisition was for a record $5 billion.

French energy giant Engie (formerly called GDF Suez), which has been acquiring cleantech companies like it’s got nothing better to do, recently made an acquisition of an African off-grid solar company, Fenix.

First Solar’s stock price jumped 20% at the end of October on the back of some strongly positive quarterly finances. It’s been over a year since First Solar’s share price was so high … but it’s still far below 2007–2011 levels.

Indian giant Acme Solar Holdings is aiming to raise Rs 2,200 crore ($335 million) in its initial public offering (IPO). You buyin’?

Groupe Renault knows where the world is headed, and it initiated a new Renault Energy Services business entity in order to try to capitalize.

On the other side of the pond, a new consortium of battery tech firms named Imperium3 New York announced it is investing $130 million over the next 5 years to commercialize “an innovative technology for making more efficient and less expensive lithium ion batteries.”

Meanwhile, UK startup Brill Power won a €100,000 prize at EnergyFest in Amsterdamfor finding a way to significantly extend the life of lithium-ion batteries.

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CleanTechnicaWhat Changed In The Solar Energy & Storage Markets In October?