Black & Veatch has been selected to serve as owners’ representative for an energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside in San Diego County, California. The project owners, the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego, are assessing the potential to develop the 500 MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility to increase the availability and efficiency of renewable energy for the region. It will provide enough stored energy to supply approximately 325,000 homes annually.

As the owners’ representative, Black & Veatch will help evaluate proposals, select the full service team and negotiate the project delivery agreement.

The SVESF will store energy by pumping water to an upper reservoir when energy demand is low and releasing water from the upper reservoir through turbines when energy demand is high. The pumped hydro energy storage solution would support power grid operations and enable significant and sustained integration of renewable wind and solar energy into the power supply mix. It would also generate revenue that could help reduce upward pressure on water rates driven by aging infrastructure.

The SVESF project involves the establishment of a small reservoir above the existing San Vicente Reservoir as well as a tunnel system and underground powerhouse to connect the two reservoirs. The powerhouse would contain reversible pump-turbines that would lift water to the upper reservoir or generate energy as it flows down.

During peak energy demand, water would flow downhill to turn hydroelectric turbines. During off-peak periods, including daytime when renewable energy supplies exceed demand, water would be pumped to the upper reservoir.

Click Here to Read Full Article

A subsidiary of Japan’s NEC Corporation has announced it has completed the commissioning of a total of 50 MW of energy storage projects in the UK.

EC Energy Solutions (NEC ES) will team up with VLC Energy, a joint venture between Low Carbon, a renewable energy investment company, and VPI Immingham, owner of one of the largest combined heat and power plants in Europe and part of the Vitol Group.

The 50 MW portfolio, which is now fully operational and includes a 40 MW facility in Glassenbury in Kent and a 10 MW installation in Cleator in Cumbria, represents the largest portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage systems connected to the UK grid.

The Cleator and Glassenbury sites secured two contracts with National Grid in August 2016 for battery energy storage systems to provide Enhanced Frequency Response (EFR) to the UK system operator.

NEC ES provided turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services which included its GSS® end-to-end grid storage solution, and was contracted to operate the sites to provide the EFR service directly to National Grid. Energy storage operation for EFR will be handled by an automated operating mode designed specifically for the UK frequency response service, and is part of the AEROS® controls system, NEC’s proprietary energy storage control software.

Click Here to Read Full Article

The California Public Utilities Commission could soon require Calpine replace three natural gas plants in the state with energy storage.

The regulators will vote on the matter January 11, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Both Calpine and the California Independent System Operator oppose the move, saying the plants are needed to ensure reliability.

Two of the targeted gas plants are in Feather River and Yuba, and total 47 MW each. The third, in Metcalf, totals 605 MW. None of the three have long-term contracts with utilities.

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times concluded California overbuilt the state’s electrical system, primarily with natural gas facilities.

Click Here to Read Full Article

The nation’s largest utility holding company and a major lithium supplier are partnering up to create a new company designed to connect investors with well-researched opportunities in the energy storage sector.

Exelon Corp. and Albemarle Corp. announced Wednesday that they were founding investors in Volta Energy Technologies. The new Napierville, Illinois-based firm seeks to connect technical and product development know-how with investment mechanisms.

 “The energy sector is undergoing a transformation,” said Chris Crane, president and CEO of Exelon. “We must help lead the nation through this change by investing in the next big innovations that provide the best commercial and customer solutions. Exelon launched and invested in Volta because we operate at the forefront of energy innovation, and energy storage represents an important next frontier.”

Exelon owns and operates utilities which provide electric and gas service to millions of customers in the Midwest and eastern U.S. Units include Commonwealth Edison, Baltimore Gas & Electric and PECO, among others.

The worldwide advanced battery and storage market is projected to rise to more than $100 billion within a decade, according to some reports. Over the next year, Volta will seek other investors who have energy storage as a key element of their business strategy.

“Investing in Volta is a strategic priority for us,” said Luke Kissam, CEO of Albemarle Corporation. “Many expect that there will be exciting innovations in lithium battery technology in the future, and we want to be a part of any process that might identify new technologies to power the potential of clean energy solutions. We are excited about ultimately creating value in the markets, and for Albemarle, through our partnership with Volta.”

Traditional venture capital funds often lack the expertise and patience required to advance innovations from lab to market, and public research institutions are not charged with commercializing their work. Volta’s model bridges these gaps and offers a solution.

“Volta’s model is built to identify the winning technologies and businesses in the rapidly evolving battery and energy storage sectors. This enables major, market-moving companies and other investors to choose wisely the technologies that will shape our future energy system,” said Volta founder and CEO Jeff Chamberlain.

“During my 24 years in the private sector and at national labs, I saw firsthand how challenging it is for a single entity to develop a new physical technology—or for a single investor to identify the right opportunity, let alone take it to market,” Chamberlain said. “Volta brings together a team of battery storage and investment experts to tap into the unmatched capabilities of the U.S. national laboratory system to identify and overcome deal-killing technical challenges.”

Click Here to Read Full Article

Elizabeth Ingram is managing editor of PennWell’s Hydro Group.

Energy storage is undoubtedly a hot topic worldwide. And as more focus is placed on this vital piece of the electricity system puzzle, particularly in the face of the increasing deployment of intermittent wind and solar generating facilities and growing demand for renewable generation, more technologies and approaches are being developed to provide needed storage.

The panel discussion session entitled Recent Energy Storage Project Deployment Around the World that took place on Tuesday, Dec. 5, covered a variety of approaches being implemented worldwide, from hybrid gas turbines to combining steam generation and batteries to compressed air energy storage. Another presentation discussed distributed energy resources at the customer level.

An important point is that this session focused not on size of the energy storage solution but rather on the suitability of each to the unique situation for which they were deployed. Although when you discuss current actual deployed energy storage technology, pumped storage hydropower is at the top of the list, the focus of this discussion was more on smaller, more localized systems that are undoubtedly faster to deploy.

For example, Joe Heinzmann with GE Power Services presented information on a gas turbine-battery hybrid system with up to 50 MW nominal of operating reserve. The example given of application of this technology was Southern California Edison’s Grapeline Peaker project.

Curtis VanWalleghem with Hydrostor discussed the company’s approach to storing compressed air in such a way that the facilities do not need to be sited near a salt mine but instead can be placed at the point of demand. Again, capacities of this technology were small, with systems of 660 kW and 2 MW being developed.

Michael Welch with Siemens AG covered the value of including batteries with steam or gas turbines. He discussed the importance of hybrid solutions to decarbonize power generation.

One unique portion of the presentation discussed locating storage at the customer’s location, with information covered by Matt Owens with Stem and Flavio Dal Lago with Socomec.

Engagement in the content by the audience was robust, with many questions posed. Often I find this portion of a conference session the most valuable and informative, as it indicates their interest in the topic and respect for the panelists as people who can help them get the answers they need. Additionally, audience members who have a special interest in this topic may also have valuable expertise to share with the audience.

Click Here to Read Full Article

The expected outcome of utility integrated resource planning (IRP) is the optimum combination of power generation resources that will produce the most cost-effective and reliable generation for the rate-payer. That process is relatively simple for a nuclear and fossil fuel-based system. However, the difficult process of integrating renewable generation has made asset optimization and operational flexibility paramount.

Reaching that goal is often further complicated by external influences. For example, states/nations with Renewable Portfolio Standards often require a set quantity renewable generation to be produced each year.

Others have market-driven rules or have enacted legislation that require placing renewable generation first place in the dispatch queue, thereby pushing conventional assets further down the list, often from baseload to cycling operation. The unpredictability of renewable assets that operate only when the wind blows and the sun shines require more frequent cycling, start/stops, and ramping of assets that accelerates equipment wear-and-tear. Planners have a difficult job optimizing grid efficiency with so many moving parts.

All grid operators want more flexible generation that is available on demand. As additional wind and solar generation come online, some grid operators have elected to rely on market mechanisms to entice developers to construct fast response assets to fill in the inevitable production gaps inherent with renewable generation. Others have installed decentralized “blocks” of gas-fired assets, usually simple cycle combustion turbines or reciprocating engine generators, to provide quick response power when needed. Many utilities are forced to keep assets operating a part-load to satisfy rising spinning reserve margins.

Many utilities have added flexible generation in the form of high-efficiency combined cycle power plants but they remain best suited for operation at or near baseload operation for maximum efficiency.

There is also a steep price to pay in O&M and lost efficiency when cycling or operating a combined cycle plant at part-load. The elegant solution is large-scale energy storage but that technology remains a future promise.

Often these solutions attempt to use fossil generation in ways it wasn’t designed to be used, cycling when renewable energy supplies spike up or down, for whatever reason.

Click Here to Read Full Article

A new study by Navigant Research indicates annual installations of utility-scale power storage for transmission and distribution deferral is expected to grow rapidly over the next decade.

Specifically, installations are expected to grow from 331.7 MW this year to 14,324.8 MW in 2026.

“The major advantage energy storage has compared to conventional T&D upgrades results from the flexibility related to how storage systems can be deployed and the variety of services they can provide,” said Alex Eller, research analyst with Navigant Research. “Unlike most grid infrastructure systems, ESSs can be deployed in small, modular increments as needed to serve growing demand with limited risk of oversizing or stranding assets.”

Navigant predicts utility companies will turn to these types of deployments to avoid the typical challenges associated with transmission, including community concerns, timelines and future load growth uncertainty. 

Click Here to Read Full Article

Green Charge, a subsidiary of ENGIE, announced plans to develop and operate whats being called the largest utility-scale energy storage system in Massachusetts.

The three-MW system will be installed at the 5.76-MW Mt. Tom Solar, which began operations in January adjacent to the former Mt. Tom Power Station, and will deliver energy to Holyoke Gas & Electric. ENGIE expects the system to be complete by April 2018.

The system will be used to optimize intermittent solar energy and reduce utility capacity costs for HG&E while reducing stress on the HG&E distribution system and improving power quality and reliability.

As part of Massachusetts’ Peak Demand Management Program, HG&E was awarded a $475,000 MA Department of Energy Resources Grant to contract with, schedule, measure, and analyze the energy storage system. UMass Amherst will quantify the peak reduction value to the distribution system, accounting for equipment value, cost reduction potential, and overall project data. The goal of the grant is to provide research and recommendations on the future distribution system value of battery storage devices throughout the state.

“Massachusetts is proud to be a national leader in energy efficiency programs that reduce overall consumption and we are committed to continuing our work to improve energy costs disproportionately affected by times of peak demand,” said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. “The demonstration projects funded through these grants will strengthen our innovation economy and provide the Commonwealth with a roadmap for reducing our most expensive energy loads and securing our energy future.”

Click Here to Read Full Article