WASHINGTON — Declining costs and new market rules are opening opportunities for energy storage, but the technology’s operating characteristics are proving challenging to system operators and market designers, speakers told the Energy Storage Association Policy Summit last week.

Jurisdictional questions also are creating uncertainty, speakers said.

David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board in Illinois, captured the optimism at the daylong conference, declaring his consumer group as “bullish” on the technology.

“In our minds, the declining cost curve of batteries and other storage technologies is the single most encouraging trend in the electricity space today,” Kolata said. “We see storage as an essential component of a least-cost future, and we say this because if we get the policy right there are multiple sources of consumer value.”

Kolata cited lower cost for frequency regulation, reduced costs for integrating renewables, increased grid flexibility and reliability and the deferment of transmission and distribution system investments.

“And perhaps most importantly, storage can lower peak demand. From the consumer point of view, nothing is more important than reducing the peak. As you know, a large percentage of overall system costs are driven by 30, 40, 50 hours a year, so if you can reduce that peak, there are benefits for all consumers.”

Kolata said storage — along with time-based rates — will be crucial to ensuring transportation electrification brings benefits.

“At CUB, we see the potential benefits from electrification, but … only if vehicles charge when they should and don’t charge when they shouldn’t,” he said. “If transportation electrification increases peak demand, it’s going to be bad for the environment and bad for consumers.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom will need to hit the ground running if he wants his state to reach its historically ambitious goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2045. New York has its work cut out, too, as it aims to hit the same mark by 2040. Motivated by these newly minted climate policies, many other states are ramping up their emissions targets as well.

But no state will be able to reach its goal without addressing one crucial tool: energy storage.

Across the United States, thousands of people have installed batteries like the Tesla Powerwall in their homes, while a few states, such as California, New York, and Massachusetts, have pioneered grid-scale battery projects. These batteries store energy to be used later, at peak demand times or during other shortages.

The push for energy storage promises big environmental benefits. With enough capacity, generators of electricity can tap into their sources of renewable electricity, hold onto it, and use it when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing. It is a way to use carbon-free energy instead of fossil fuels, and reduce electricity generators’ emissions of destructive, climate-changing greenhouse gases.

But the reality is more complicated than this rosy picture would suggest. Energy storage projects, regardless of upgrades to technology and infrastructure, must be paired with the right policies. Without such policies, society risks increasing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than decreasing them. As climate threats mount and the window to act is beginning to close, states need to adopt desirable energy storage policies as quickly as possible.

India’s first grid-scale battery storage system was brought online earlier this week in Rohini, Delhi, by a triumvirate of heavy hitters including Indian electric utility Tata Power, global power company the AES Corporation, and global business enterprise Mitsubishi Corporation.

The 10MW/10MWh grid-connected energy storage system is owned by AES and Mitsubishi Corporation and it is hoped it will pave the way for wider energy storage adoption in India.

The battery energy storage system is located at a substation in Rohini, Delhi, operated by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), and consists of an Advancion Energy Storage Platform supplied by Fluence, a Siemens and AES joint venture.

The Advancion platform is designed around small module nodes that serve as the building blocks for the larger energy storage system, providing a high degree of redundancy.

According to Fluence, the platform’ “independent, modular nodes incorporate pre-certified batteries and inverters with our patented controls and are architected in a massively parallel design – offering customers the highest level of reliability and availability, similar to the world’s best data center systems.”

“Fluence is proud to support Tata Power-DDL in their efforts to continuously improve their network by adopting new technologies such as Fluence’s Advancion energy storage platform,” said Stephen Coughlin, CEO of Fluence. “This historic project is a major step forward and will showcase the valuable role energy storage will play in enabling India to achieve its sustainable energy goals.”

The Tesla big battery at Hornsdale in South Australia continues to make its mark on the Australian energy market, pocketing another $4m in the fourth quarter from the provision of frequency and ancillary services.

The number was revealed in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest Quarterly Dynamics report, which also reveals a growing focus on energy storage, and time shifting and energy arbitrage in particular.

The fourth quarter was notable because it saw the number of big batteries on the main grid multiply, with the addition of the Dalrymple North battery in South Australia, and the Gannawarra and Ballarat big batteries in Victoria.

It also saw a record amount of pumped hydro used since 2008, a sure sign of the greater role for energy storage that is to come as the share of wind and solar continues to soar and more battery and pumped hydro systems, along with other forms of storage such as hydrogen and solar thermal, come into the system.

The performance and business model of the Tesla big battery has been a source of fascination for the industry since its opening more than 14 months ago. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed that the $95m facility was likely to pay itself back within a few years.

The battery, actually owned and operated by Neoen Australia, receives a $4m a year payment for providing grid services to the South Australia government – a payment worth significantly more given its recent performance keeping the lights on in the state after a lightning strike in northern NSW led to load shedding and generator trips in all other states.

Essential Energy Everyday (EEE) recently released a video called, “Future Powered by Lead Batteries”, which describes how lead batteries are an indispensable part of our everyday lives and our green energy future. Lead batteries have a 150-year proven track record and are poised to provide the energy storage demand for a growing global economy — supporting renewable energy, greener transportation, and critical infrastructure.

The need for more research and investment in energy storage (synonymous with batteries) was made clear this week in Washington, D.C.

Capitol Hill Briefing: Bipartisan agreement & progressive research
Reports of divisions in Congress were disproved during a Capitol Hill briefing organized by Battery Council International on February 12, 2019, in advance of National Battery Day. California Rep. Mark Takano (Democrat) and New York Rep. Chris Collins (Republican) who serve as co-chairs of the Advanced Energy Storage Caucus, agreed that the need for research into energy storage is an area of alignment for both Democrats and Republicans.

Rep. Takano noted that he co-founded the caucus after a staff member provided him with a policy paper in 2015 that described energy storage as “the next big thing.” His goal is to advocate for advanced energy storage research and to explore policies that encourage battery storage development. “I’m passionate about this issue because [the] security and sustainability of our energy infrastructure affects every community across America.”

Takano added: “Energy storage is the future of renewable energy. Cheap grid-scale storage means that renewables can compete with fossil fuels on cost alone. This is not only better for our environment, but also makes our national grid more secure from natural disasters.”

Rep. Collins noted that energy storage means energy independence, “and that’s what’s good for America.” Collins said that the current downside of wind and solar power is that wind and sun aren’t always available. “We have to store the energy in a way that’s real and sustainable, and the technology is not quite there…we need breakthroughs.” He stressed that the place for governmental funding is funding research, noting that the moon landing, semiconductors, and other technological advancements are the result of government funding.

A consortium composed of Portland General Electric and NextEra Energy will construct and operate a new renewable energy facility in eastern Oregon. Dubbed the Wheatland Renewable Energy Facility, it will feature 120 wind turbines capable of producing 300 megawatts of electricity in addition to 50 megawatts of solar power. What is unique about Wheatland is that in addition to co-locating wind and solar at the same site, it will also feature 30 megawatts of battery storage onsite as well.

“We’re moving aggressively to integrate smart grid technologies and renewable energy to give customers affordable, clean, low-carbon energy,” said Maria Pope, CEO of PGE (which is not to be confused with PG&E). “Wheatridge will be a model for integrating renewable generation and storage to cost-effectively reduce emissions while maintaining a reliable grid.”

PGE will own 100 MW of the wind project, according to a report by Renewable Energy magazine. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources will own the balance of the project and sell its output to PGE under 30-year power purchase agreements. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy will build and operate the combined facility. The split ownership and PPA structure will allow the two energy companies to share project risks and benefits.

The wind turbine portion of the project is slated for completion by the end of 2020. The solar and storage portion will follow within two years. Once the wind turbines begin operating, PGE will have more than 1 gigawatt of wind energy available for its customers — enough to power 340,000 homes. When the solar and storage pieces are completed, 50% of the electricity PGE distributes will be derived from renewable sources.

In total, PGE will invest $160 million in the Wheatland project. The amount of money NextEra Energy is contributing has not been disclosed. Who will supply the solar panels and battery storage equipment has not yet been determined. The facility will employ up to 300 workers during the wind turbine construction phase and 170 to build and install the solar panels and battery storage components. 10 full time employees will maintain and operate it after it is completed. PGE says it is too soon to say how Wheatland will affect utility rates, according to Oregon Live, but Wheatridge was the least expensive option for meeting Oregon’s clean energy mandate.

Keeping meat and juice fresh can be an expensive business for supermarkets. The energy used by chilled aisles can account for 40 to 60 per cent of a store’s total energy bill, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

With the retail industry looking to reduce its carbon footprint, some supermarkets, including Aldi and Lidl, are turning to renewable energy technologies, such as , and , to provide power to stores and distribution centres.

The problem is, while these energy sources are clean, they’re subject to interruptions. Solar panels require the sun to shine, but supermarkets need to keep refrigeration units running throughout the night.

“Replacing conventional is essentially moving from a reliable, centralised infrastructure to a decentralised and intermittent energy supply,” says Stefan Schauss, president of CellCube Energy Storage Systems, which is headquartered in Toronto. The company is aiming to become North America’s leading producer of vanadium electrolytes for the energy storage industry.

“Energy storage promises to solve all the quality and stability of supply issues for uninterrupted production in the wholesale and retail chain,” Mr Schauss adds.

Shell is to acquire German battery storage manufacturer sonnen in a bid to accelerate its home energy services position.

Sonnen is to sit as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shell should the acquisition clear regulatory approvals, and the deal comes less than a year after Shell made an investment in the battery firm.

The companies said the deal stood to accelerate their respective abilities to provide integrated energy services and electric vehicle charging solutions to homes, while also benefitting the provision of grid services via sonnen’s virtual power plant platform.

Mark Gainsborough, executive vice president for new energies at Shell, said full ownership of sonnen would allow it to offer customers more choice over their energy consumption.

“Together, we can accelerate the building of a customer-focused energy system in support of Shell’s strategy to offer more and cleaner energy solutions to customers.”

Shell’s interest in catering for consumers’ home energy needs is well documented and has escalated since it acquired independent supplier First Utility in December 2017.

Its New Energies unit has also become home to a host of other decarbonised and decentralised energy investments over the last few months including solar developers Silicon Ranch and Cleantech Solar and Dutch EV group NewMotion.

After China connected a huge battery to a project combining solar, wind and other generation sources, a US utility project has just been announced which will likewise combine solar and wind with a grid-scale battery.

Oregon utility Portland General Electric (PGE) said yesterday that together with power producer NextEra Energy it plans to construct and connect a 300MW wind park, 50MW solar farm and 30MW of battery energy storage.

Wheatridge Renewable Energy will combine with PGE’s existing resources, helping the utility meet as much as 50% of customer power demand emissions-free. PGE said that the project has been supported from its earliest stages by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who in a tweet yesterday said it spoke of the “#OregonWay spirit of finding solutions” and his pride in the “local folks” who had come together to make it possible.

“Portland General Electric’s decision to join with NextEra Energy Resources in constructing the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility provides both a well-earned economic boost to Eastern Oregon and an important step on our country’s needed path to green energy,” Wyden added in a statement.

The project was an “exciting opportunity” to combine solar, wind and storage NextEra CEO and president Armando Pimentel, who also said that Wheatridge “will allow PGE’s customers to benefit from more renewable energy over more hours of the day and create substantial economic value for the communities that host this project, many of whom stand to benefit for years to come”.

In total, 120 wind turbines made and supplied by GE Power will be installed. Equipment and suppliers have not been selected for the solar and battery storage portions of the project as yet. However, PGE said that in addition to 300 construction jobs being created by the wind farm, up to 175 people will be employed for the PV and battery parks, while around 10 full-time employees will maintain and operated the completed project.