While energy storage technologies like lithium-ion batteries have seen substantially reduced costs, “revenue streams for storage resources have not developed to the same extent,” according to the report.

“Energy Storage – Perspectives from California and Europe” is published by CAISO and the Renewables Grid Initiative, a Germany-based coalition with membership from environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and European transmission operators including Amprion, 50Hertz and Swissgrid.

Europe is well behind the U.S., and California in particular, in battery storage deployments. Pumped hydro makes up almost all of the storage capacity in Europe. “Other forms of storage technologies such as batteries, electric cars, flywheels, hydrogen and chemical storage are either minimal, or at a very early stage of development,” the report said.

California, meanwhile, has many operational battery storage projects, and the most ambitious targets for storage procurement of any state. It also has market mechanisms to reward storage not yet available in some European countries. For example, frequency stabilization and other ancillary services storage can provide for the grid are “not presently being remunerated” in Germany, the report said. CAISO allows storage projects to compete for ancillary market revenue through its “Non-Generator Resources” model.

Despite this progress, CAISO notes that more should be done to encourage storage applications that better complement the grid during periods where demand is ramping up but renewable production is low. “Within the CAISO’s footprint, daily ramps are becoming a reliability concern and storage could help in addressing this,” the report said.

There is a seven-hour window starting around sunset when it could be most economic for batteries to discharge their energy, according to CAISO. Lithium-ion batteries most commonly used in battery storage projects have a duration of around four hours, so there is commercial interest in storage that can discharge for longer durations.

The report also calls for intensifying R&D investments into new storage applications, particularly “in countries where fossil-fuel and nuclear sources have been phased out” in order to “overcome periods with low infeed from renewables.”

Nevada regulators have given a green light to utility NV Energy’s plan to add nearly 1.2 gigawatts of solar and 590 megawatts of batteries, underscoring a broader push toward renewable energy and storage by other Western utilities also owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

The new projects are part of NV Energy’s integrated resource plan approved Wednesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. NV Energy announced the projects in June with developers 8minute Solar Energy, EDF Renewables, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Arevia Power, and it expects them to be online in 2023.

This massive solar procurement includes Quinbrook and Arevia’s newly approved Gemini project, at 690 megawatts, which is tied with the Misae 2 project in Texas as the country’s largest single solar PV array. 8Minute’s 300-megawatt Southern Bighorn project and EDF’s 200-megawatt Arrow Canyon project complete the solar portion of the procurement.

All three projects will also come with at least four hours of energy storage capacity to shift hundreds of megawatts of solar power from peak midday output into later in the afternoon or evening. Gemini’s 690 megawatts of solar will be matched by a 380-megawatt battery array with about 1.5 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity. That could make it the biggest solar-paired utility storage projects in the country, as compared to the previous record holder, the 409-megawatt/900-megawatt-hour Manatee Energy Storage Center being built by NextEra Energy’s Florida Power & Light.

8Minute Energy CEO Tom Buttgenbach noted in June that the Southern Bighorn project, which will match 300 megawatts of solar with a 135-megawatt/540-megawatt-hour battery system, could run 65 percent of the time during peak summer hours, as opposed to the roughly 30 percent availability of the average solar plant in Nevada. The Arrow Canyon project offers an even more extended 5-hour storage duration, pairing 200 megawatts of solar with a 75-megawatt/375-megawatt-hour battery array.

These lengthening megawatt-hour figures for NV Energy’s latest solar-storage power-purchase agreements reflect a trend for longer-duration storage across the country, as falling battery prices allow for more cost-effective shifting of solar production. They’re also important for states like Nevada and Arizona that are starting to see the same “duck curve” effects as nearby California, where solar generation is pushing cheap energy onto the grid at midday that fades away in the evening hours when electricity demand spikes.

December 5 (Renewables Now) – Nevada utility NV Energy on Wednesday said it had secured approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) for 1.19 GW of new solar power projects and 590 MW of energy storage capacity in Nevada.

The additional solar capacity will come from three projects located in Clark County, southern Nevada, which are scheduled to be operational by January 2024.

The latest projects, whose potential inclusion in NV Energy’s portfolio was first announced in June, will help the company reach its goal of doubling its renewable energy capacity. Since April, energy providers in Nevada are required by law to comply with a 50% renewable energy portfolio standard by 2030.

The selected projects include the 200-MW Arrow Canyon solar scheme, which is being developed by EDF Renewables North America and has 75 MW of battery storage. A project being developed by 8minute Solar Energy will add 300 MW of solar power with 135 MW of battery storage within the Southern Bighorn Solar & Storage Centre, while the largest plan includes a 690-MW solar farm with 380 MW of energy storage capacity. Known as the Gemini solar + battery storage project, it is being developed by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Arevia Power.

At present, NV Energy has 57 geothermal, solar, hydro, wind, biomass and supported rooftop solar projects, both operational and under development, in its portfolio.

DENVER — It’s become a cliche to compare today’s energy storage market to where the solar industry was a certain number of years ago. But storage’s trajectory differs from the early growth dynamics of solar power in a crucial respect: It transcends the geographic boundaries, dictated by sunshine and policy, that constrained solar’s rise.

Fast-acting battery technology performs many roles: frequency regulation, capacity, deferral of wires upgrades, resilience, firming renewable generation and more. It does not rely on a geographically specific weather pattern or any one set of state policies to become valuable, and it’s already asserting itself across the U.S., said Daniel Finn-Foley, energy storage director at Wood Mackenzie, speaking Tuesday at GTM’s Energy Storage Summit in Denver.

Solar reached the big time early in California, thanks to abundant sunshine and supportive state incentives. Pockets of development later formed in Hawaii and the Desert Southwest, and in the less sunny but politically supportive New England states. But it did not spread evenly, and whole regions such as the Southeast and Midwest trailed behind for years.

“Energy storage’s value lends itself to a much more diverse range of geographies,” Finn-Foley said in an interview after the talk. “It’s finding value in wholesale markets; it’s finding value in vertically integrated utility markets; it’s finding value for residential deployments — really, just about everywhere.”

Storage is still considered new and experimental in many states, but a map of where development has taken place reveals its border-crossing appeal. Here are the states that already operate more than 50 megawatts of grid storage, according to Finn-Foley’s presentation.

Energy storage deployed more capacity than any third quarter in U.S. history, according to a new report from the Energy Storage Association.

The U.S. sector deployed 100.7 MW (totaling 264.6 MWh of duration) of storage in the quarter ending Sept. 30, according to the ESA and research partner Wood Mackenzie. Massachusetts led the way with front-of-meter (FTM) deployment totaling 58 MWh, while Vermont and Arkansas tied for second place with 24 MWh.

“We are encouraged to see the continued strong growth of the energy storage industry,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the U.S. Energy Storage Association. “Three of the last four quarters have recorded more than 100 MW in deployments, experiencing a healthy diversity of customer-sited and grid-side projects, and a growing pipeline of projects in development. We can expect deployments to accelerate even further if Congress acts to pass legislation making stand-alone energy storage eligible for the 30% investment tax credit by the end of this year.”

Residential storage grew by nearly 40 MW in the third quarter of the year. California, Hawaii and Arizona were the largest US markets for residential storage in during the timeframe.

“The power shutoffs over the past few months in California will act as significant drivers of growth in residential storage into 2020 and beyond as more customers explore solar-plus-storage for backup power,” Speakes-Backman added.

FTM storage growth will accelerate significantly starting in 2020 as the segment adds 825 MW next year and 2,635 MW the following year, according to forecasts.

Britain needs to increase energy storage tenfold to hit its target of net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

That’s the estimation of utility Drax Group Plc, which says 30 gigawatts of pumped hydroelectricity storage and batteries are necessary to help the U.K. transition to a net-zero energy system. Drax operates 400 megawatts of pumped hydro.

Installing vast

quantities of storage will help mitigate against the indeterminacy of renewable power. The U.K. currently has about 3 gigawatts of storage available with 1.1 gigawatts either commissioned, under construction or announced since the start of 2018, according to BloombergNEF data.

“This summer’s blackout in Britain highlights the value of having a range of fast-acting technologies and that demand will only grow as older thermal power plants retire and are replaced by intermittent renewables,” said Oliver Schmidt, co-author of Drax’s Electric Insight report and senior consultant at clean energy consultants Apricum GmbH.

Over the last two decades, the energy industry has been in a constant state of transformation, catalyzed by dramatic increases in clean energy and a multitude of technology innovations. In California, the spotlight has been on maximizing the use and storage of renewable energy to meet climate goals. As an early adopter of clean energy innovations, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has been a key partner in California’s efforts to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Today, SDG&E supplies around 45% renewable energy to every family and business in the San Diego-Southern Orange County, California, U.S. region, up 1% from nearly two decades ago. The national average is about 10%. SDG&E’s mission to become America’s cleanest energy infrastructure utility is complemented by its relentless efforts to enhance the safety and reliability of energy delivery.

California has been racing against the climate change clock, creating policies, incentives and programs to achieve higher levels of clean energy for powering homes, businesses, goods movement and transportation. As more solar and wind energy come on-line and plug into the power grid, investments are needed to maintain reliability, harness the value of excess electrons and keep costs low for customers. With an abundance of solar and wind energy now flooding the grid, curtailment is an unfortunate, harsh reality. This challenge has led to an emerging market and increasingly important energy resource in California: the rise of energy storage. Excited about the many potential uses for energy storage, SDG&E currently is pursuing multiple projects on this front.

The Emerging Market

In the last decade, interest in energy storage—both utility scale as well as residential and commercial—has increased dramatically as a result of climate policy goals, such as California’s Senate Bill (SB) 100, which mandates the state’s grid be 100% carbon free by 2045, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 841, which directs system operators to enable utility-scale batteries so they can engage in the wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary services markets.

As demand increases, the market has responded with a variety of energy storage technologies and applications. Whether a large-scale Lithium-ion battery for grid use or a behind-the-meter (BTM) battery for a photovoltaic (PV) system, batteries are becoming commonplace for energy consumers. Electric vehicles with longer-duration batteries are coming down in price, creating more choices for consumers. New technology also is emerging to enable bidirectional flow of electricity between the grid and vehicles. In the future, imagine consumers plugging electric vehicles into their houses to help power some of their electricity needs during peak hours.

Wood Mackenzie Renewables & Power and the Energy Storage Association have released their US Energy Storage Monitor, which showed that in 100.7 MW / 264 MWh were deployed across the country in Q3’19. The quarter was the highest Q3 so far, and outside of massive months where utility scale projects dominated, is at the end of consistent growth (red line added by pv magazine USA) when combining the various ups and downs of markets.

For battery power, it was the fifth highest volume deployed while battery capacity was the third highest month.

The research group noted 32% growth in megawatts deployed over Q2’19 in the above image, while below they show 59% growth over the prior quarter in terms of megawatt-hours deployed. The 59% was driven by longer duration in front of the meter installations by utilities. Future projects have already signed much longer hourly ratios, with certain developers seeking 24 hour solar – so expect that battery capacity may outgrow battery power.

The document saw the various markets grow in their own patterns. Residential energy storage has consistently grown since a late last year slump due to supply challenges. More growth is projected to come from California due to the power safety shutdowns. The commercial sector has seen two straight months of pull back after a big Q4-Q1’19, no reason was noted. Of course, the wild card is the utility scale sector – whose peaks historically set the record months.

State wise, the Massachusetts SMART program was the quarter’s clear leader for front of the meter deployments at 58 MWh, with Vermont (always smart with storage) and, surprisingly to this author, Arkansas tied for second place at 24 MWh each. California, Hawaii led the residential energy and commercial energy storage markets with with roughly similar volumes each deployed. Considering California is over 25 greater than Hawaii, but only outpacing by 4-5X, its pretty obvious Hawaii is making some serious moves.

Our use of battery-operated devices and appliances has been increasing steadily, bringing with it the need for safe, efficient, and high-performing power sources. To this end, a type of electrical energy storage device called the supercapacitor has recently begun to be considered as a feasible, and sometimes even better, alternative to conventional widely used energy-storage devices such as Li-ion batteries. Supercapacitors can charge and discharge much more rapidly than conventional batteries and also continue to do so for much longer. This makes them suitable for a range of applications such as regenerative braking in vehicles, wearable electronic devices, and so on. “If a high-performance supercapacitor using a non-flammable, non-toxic, and safe aqueous electrolyte can be created, it can be incorporated into wearable devices and other devices, contributing to a boom in the Internet of Things,” Dr. Takeshi Kondo, who is the lead scientist in a recent breakthrough study in the field, says.

Yet, despite their potential, supercapacitors, at present, have certain drawbacks that are preventing their widespread use. One major issue is that they have low energy density—that is, they store insufficient energy per unit area of their space. Scientists first attempted to solve this problem by using organic solvents as the electrolyte—the conducting medium—inside supercapacitors to raise the generated voltage (note that the square of the voltage is directly proportional to energy density in energy storage devices). But organic solvents are costly and have low conductivity. So, perhaps, an aqueous electrolyte would be better, the scientists thought. Thus, the development of supercapacitor components that would be effective with aqueous electrolytes became a central research topic in the field.

In the aforementioned recent study, published in Scientific Reports, Dr. Kondo and group from the Tokyo University of Science and Daicel Corporation in Japan explored the possibility of using a novel material, the boron-doped nanodiamond, as electrode in the supercapacitors—electrodes are the conducting materials in a battery or capacitor that connect the electrolyte with external wires, to transport current out of the system. This research group’s choice of electrode material was based on the knowledge that boron-doped diamonds have a wide potential window, a feature that enables a high-energy storage device to remain stable over time. “We thought that water-based supercapacitors producing a large voltage could be realized if conductive diamond is used as an electrode material,” Dr. Kondo says.