The mass adoption and implementation of solar energy in South African homes and businesses has been rapidly increasing over the past few years. But, going completely “off grid” has so far been held back by the expense of storing power from renewable sources.

But this is changing, as the technology is available, and becoming more affordable, for dramatically reducing the reliance on state utility, Eskom, for electricity in South Africa.

While solar energy is an ample resource in this country, the real game-changer will be the ability to store the power generated by day, for consistent use around the clock, says Dominic Wills, CEO of SOLA Future Energy.

Wills says solar and storage are becoming more sought-after for businesses in South Africa, which are facing escalating cost pressures from ever-increasing Eskom tariffs.

He says recent advances in battery technology, and the rapid decrease in costs of such storage components, has meant that the time has come to leave the national grid entirely, particularly for businesses.

“In the past, when power was needed, it was provided by baseload power, created by non-renewable energy sources that were burnt to produce power in response to the demand. For generations, we didn’t focus on developing the technology necessary to store power because fossil fuels were seen as endless sources of power,” Wills explains.

A coalition of lobby groups from the breadth of the US clean energy industry is pressing Congress to make standalone energy storage project eligible for investment tax credits (ITC).

The credits, awarded at a rate of 30%, lit the fuse for US wind and solar power projects and could in theory grease the wheels of the nascent sector.

At the moment, there is ambiguity over the eligibility of storage equipment when paired with solar, wind or other compatible technologies. It does not qualify in its own right.

The letter gently reminds its targets that Energy Secretary Rick Perry described energy storage as “the holy grail”. Groups including the Energy Storage Association (ESA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) signed the letter to the leaders of both Houses. It states:

Energy storage systems are critical to modernization of the electric grid. The National Governors Association has underscored the multiple benefits of energy storage to save utilities, businesses, and households money while enhancing grid reliability and resilience. Energy storage systems are also fuel-neutral and help any generation resource connected to the grid – coal, gas, nuclear, wind, solar, hydro – become more efficient, productive, and competitive. The energy storage industry supports over 90,000 jobs today and has significant room to grow.

The legislation, Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act (S. 1868 and H.R. 4649), has support across the aisle and covers energy storage technologies in all its current viable forms. That ever-growing list includes the familiar Lithium-ion batteries at the heart of Tesla’s Powerwall as well pumped hydro, flywheels, hydrogen and more.

Energy-Storage.news has heard from the founder and CEO of start-up Lumenion that the company’s technology, now being trialled in Germany by Vattenfall, can store energy in steel structures for up to 48 hours.

At the end of October, Lumenion announced that a 2.4MWh steel-based thermal energy storage system will go into operation in Berlin through Vattenfall Energy Solutions and Gewobag, a municipal housing company. The company claims it can provide low-cost energy storage on combined heat & power (CHP) principles, using steel as the medium. The steel modules store energy thermally at up to 650 degrees Celsius and the system is then capable on conversion of outputting around two parts heat to one part electricity.

The system will absorb power generated by local renewables plants, wind and solar, and store it at a claimed cost of less than €0.02 per kWh. While it could output all of the stored energy as heat, it can also be converted back into power and heat using steam engines.

CEO Alexander Voigt told Energy-Storage.news that Lumenion is producing a ‘bulk storage’ technology, developed with a “view to economically shift large amounts of renewable energy – and to integrate it effectively into our energy system. Voigt said it is “much simpler – and thus also cheaper than batteries.”

“Which is why we see it as a compliment to – rather than a replacement of – batteries,” he said.

“Steel storage is well suited for providing the ‘heavy lifting’, i.e. to quickly absorb large amounts of renewable energy when the production peaks occur, to store those peaks for two cents per kWh or less, and then provide the energy continuously for many hours or even days. Batteries, on the other hand, provide the precision round the edges – frequency regulation, voltage control, black start capability and the rest.”

The US government has been urged to recognise the “critical role” energy storage can play in making the grid cleaner and able to accept more renewable energy, by increasing the eligibility of batteries and other technologies to receive the Investment Tax Credit (ITC).

The ITC is applicable to purchases of solar energy equipment in the US and effectively represents a 30% rebate for investors if fully realised. In recent years the policy scheme has been adjusted to include energy storage but for a long time, storage systems could only receive the Federal subsidy if installed at the same time as solar equipment.

However, a bill proposed in 2016 by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, S.1868, would amend revenue codes to apply either the ITC, similar tax relief measures or include energy stored in batteries, flywheels and pumped hydro in ‘Energy Credits’ policies. Heinrich’s “Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act of 2017″ would therefore see storage units rewarded for the energy they put into service on the grid and now has 11 co-sponsors from the Senate.

Yesterday, a joint letter was sent by the national Energy Storage Association (ESA), Solar Energy Industries’ Association (SEIA), American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), National Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (NEMA), National Hydropower Association, Clearpath Action and Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions urging Congress to support these actions.

Addressed to Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer, the groups urged Congress to include clarification of the ITC issue as pertains to energy storage as eligible under two tax codes, Sections 48 and 25. Referring to the bicameral and bipartisan support of the 11 co-sponsors, the authors described S.1686 as a “common-sense bill” which would “ensure a level playing field” for storage to compete with other ITC-eligible resources.

“Without clear statutory rules, energy storage industry members face continuing uncertainty from IRS guidance about the eligibility of energy storage equipment for Section 48 and 25 tax credits when paired with ITC-eligible resources,” the letter stated.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has unveiled the Open MG, an initiative aimed at developing micro-grids based on the blockchain technology.

The company’s new concept envisages the development of a micro-grid based on renewables which would be able to, through a power-to-gas technology, convert excess power into hydrogen, store it and then convert it again to electric through fuel cells when necessary.

The blockchain technology, the company said, will be used to enable easy connection, while improving operational efficiency. Furthermore, it claims that the blockchain-based project will allow grid operators, customers and energy players to take part in the marketplace and interact beneficially with each other.

The Open MG project is also said to include the construction of the world’s first MW-sized energy-independent microgrid. No further details were shared, however.

Curiosly, another company named KEPCO, which is one of Japan’s largest utilities, announced in mid-October that it had begun testing a blockchain platform to determine how power consumers and PV system owners can trade surplus electricity.

The number of pilot projects involving solar and blockchain has increased exponentially in recent months. The World Energy Council, in partnership with auditors PwC, recently interviewed 39 top level management energy leaders to ascertain whether blockchain is driving an evolution or revolution in the energy ecosystem.

FERC last week granted ISO-NE’s request to terminate the capacity supply obligation (CSO) for Invenergy’s delayed 485-MW Clear River Energy Center Unit 1, while also denying the developer’s request for a Tariff waiver over the matter (ER18-2457).

The RTO said it wanted to terminate the CSO because the combined cycle plant in Burrillville, R.I., will not be operating in time for the beginning of the capacity commitment year starting June 1, 2019. The unit obtained the CSO in Forward Capacity Auction 10, held in February 2016, but is now scheduled to begin commercial operation after June 1, 2021. Invenergy has covered the plant’s CSO for the capacity commitment periods beginning in 2019 and 2020. (See ISO-NE Asks FERC to End Clear River CSO.)

The commission denied Invenergy’s request for waiver because it “would result in undesirable consequences.”

“We find that, on balance, if Clear River is allowed to retain its CSO, or retain its existing capacity resource status, after failing to achieve commercial operation within 63 months after the FCA in which it initially obtained a CSO, it will have undesirable consequences for both system planning and Forward Capacity Market pricing,” the commission said.

FERC agreed with ISO-NE that continuing to include Clear River in its planning processes would have negative consequences for multiple aspects of system planning and found that doing so would risk misrepresenting capacity availability for the associated delivery years.

“In turn, the FCA may send incorrect market signals for the value of capacity and therefore procure an economically inefficient quantity of capacity overall and/or in certain capacity zones,” the commission said. “Similarly, continuing to account for Clear River as an existing capacity resource may also skew the results of interconnection studies and transmission planning studies.”

In a letter filed Nov. 26, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), alongside a broad coalition of energy trade and advocacy organizations, urges Congress to modify the tax code to include energy storage as an eligible technology for the investment tax credit (ITC).

Following is a statement on the effort from SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper:

“As our letter to Senate and House leadership details, energy storage systems are critically important to the modernization of America’s electric grid and represent a massive opportunity for clean energy, particularly solar power. In the energy world, you’d be hard-pressed to find an example of two technologies that complement each other as well as solar+storage.

“Yet without clear rules of the road, companies continue to face financial uncertainty in their investments. Inclusion in the ITC is a crucial step if we’re going to harness storage’s full potential. SEIA, alongside our partner organizations, is urging Congress to enact the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act, a common-sense bill that will encourage investment, jobs and accelerated deployment of solar plus storage projects.”

The economics of rural electrification using microgrids should be considered an investment for the future, akin to how Silicon Valley tech providers plough money into initially loss-leading products and services, the chief of developer and manufacturer Solar Philippines has said.

Last week, Tom Kenning, deputy editor at our sister site PV Tech, wrote an extensive and in-depth blog from a field visit to Paluan on the island of Mindoro, where a Solar Philippines offshoot company, SPSB (Solar Para Sa Bayan – ‘Solar for the country’), has executed a microgrid project that brings power to about 3,000 customers. The microgrid, which uses solar, batteries and diesel backup, is also anticipated to slash commercial electricity costs by half for local businesses.

From having just 3-8 hours of usable electricity each day, with a connection to a 5MW diesel plant some 30km away disconnected a decade ago due to transmission issues, the villagers will be able to run their homes and businesses from the new 2MW PV and 1.8MW / 1.5MWh energy storage plant, coupled with 1,260kW of diesel generation.

Solar Philippines has aggressively set about developing and executing large-scale and microgrid projects in the country as well as establishing PV module manufacturing capabilities. Company chief Leandro Leviste, son of a prominent senator, is enthusiastic about microgrids, while all of the local residents PV Tech spoke with seemed similarly enthused about the endeavour.

Leviste said that the downward trajectory of battery and PV module prices means microgrids for rural power access will reach economic viability sooner rather than later. In the meantime, he said, companies like his might have to be prepared to invest in scaling the technology to meet tomorrow’s demand rather than making projects capable of delivering big returns today.

Unveiled today (26 November), the 3MW system will enable Arsenal to cut electricity bills and avoid peak power prices. Developed by Pivot Power, the 3.7MWh system can power the club’s Emirates Stadium in North London for an entire match – equivalent to powering 2,700 homes for two hours.

The Emirates was the first Premier League stadium to source 100% of its electricity needs from renewables, after the Arsenal extended its supplier deal with Octopus Energy in 2017. Since agreeing to the supplier partnership with Octopus Energy in 2016, Arsenal has cut its carbon footprint by 7 million kilogrammes, equivalent to filling the Emirates Stadium almost four times.

Arsenal’s managing director Vinai Venkatesham said: “This is a big step forward for us in being efficient with energy usage and it builds on our work in reducing our carbon footprint as an organisation. We have been powered by green energy since 2016 thanks to Octopus Energy, and the battery storage system will support our efforts further.”

Funded through investment from Downing LLP, the system will be automatically traded and optimised by Open Energi and has secured a frequency response (FFR) contract from National Grid. Pivot Power will operate the system for 15 years and an additional 1MW of storage will be added next year.

Double Pivot

Pivot Power is also developing the world’s first 2GW network of grid-scale batteries and rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, set to be installed in the UK at a cost of £1.6bn.

The £1.6bn project will see 45 new battery sites developed nationwide at electricity sub-stations, forming the world’s biggest network of grid-scale 50MW batteries. The batteries will collectively store enough electricity to supply 235,000 average homes for a day once a full roll-out is complete.

Commenting on the unveiling, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry said: “The UK is certainly not being left-back on the bench, with Arsenal truly moving the goal-posts when it comes to energy efficiency at Emirates Stadium.