It’s unclear what’s ahead for federal policy on microgrids and distributed energy with the changing of the guard in Washington, D.C. But the Obama administration pushed the resources in its final energy blueprint issued last week.

“Transforming the Nation’s Electricity System,” the second installment of the Department of Energy’s Quadrennial Energy Review looks at the rapid technology overhaul on the grid and the challenges that result.

The 500-page report sets out 76 recommendations covering a broad range of energy issues. Specific to microgrids and distributed energy, they include:

Expanding federal programs to demonstrate the integration and optimization of distribution-system technologies

Significantly increasing federal research, develop and demonstration of clean electricity

Increasing federal support to help states value and incorporate the resources into their energy plans

The report points out ways the federal government can help microgrids and distributed energy from a technical, market and regulatory position.

For example, it recommends that a federal advisory committee look at ways to harmonize retail and wholesale electric rates. Among other things the committee would explore state and federal roles in pricing and operation of distributed energy, energy storage, and microgrids.

The report also points out a lack of organized commodity markets for distributed energy. This may change over time, the report says, and points to New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) as a possible model.

The report also calls for leveraging existing DOE programs to provide technical assistance in development of microgrids, distribution management systems, communications and sensors, energy storage and cybersecurity.

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A new energy demand response start-up is preparing to launch within weeks which will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to manage a portfolio of storage assets and provide real-time energy reserves to the grid.

Upside Energy’s Virtual Energy Store aims to relieve stress on the grid by using predictive algorithms to manage a number of distributed storage resources to reduce reliance on the spinning reserve capacity provided by traditional power stations.

The energy start-up’s cloud service currently coordinates batteries and other devices at around 40 sites but has the potential to manage thousands more across a broad portfolio of technologies, including small batteries within uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), electric vehicles and solar PV.

The company signed a firm frequency response (FFR) bridging contract with the National Grid in November and is currently qualifying its assets before officially launching its commercial service by early March.

Upside will begin by providing initial service to large batteries at Sheffield and Manchester Universities before seeking to take advantage of National Grid’s decision to lower the minimum entry point for its main frequency response tendering market from 10MW to 1MW from April.

The company will seek to build its access to batteries and other smart devices, such as home storage, intelligent hot water tanks or businesses’ reserve power supplies, by offering a second revenue stream in the form of frequency response.

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Lithium mining and extraction companies have made several recent high profile moves to increase their production of the metal, which is used to make the batteries in many stationary energy storage systems and EVs.

This includes the acquisition of a lithium mining operation in Nevada, US, home of Tesla’s Gigafactory, by Toronto Venture Stock Exchange (TSX-V) -listed LiCo Energy Metals, which has also signalled its intent to acquire exploitation concessions for lithium in Chile. Meanwhile, US-headquartered Albemarle Corporation, which owns the only existing lithium mine in the US – also in Nevada – announced that it too is seeking a big win in Chile, striking a deal to increase its lithium production from an existing facility.

LiCo Energy Metals announced on Friday that it had brokered a deal, subject to stock exchange approval, with exploration company Nevada Energy Metals, for 199 placer claims in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. LiCo would earn an undivided 70% interest, while paying a 3% net smelter return royalty to Nevada Energy Metals. LiCo will pay the exploration company the sum of US$170,000 and issue it with 1.5 million shares upon approval by TSX-V. Then in the first year of the deal it would give Nevada Energy Metals another 1.5 million shares and then the same amount again in the second year. Before the third year LiCo will pay out a US$1,250,000 work commitment as well as paying a cash finder’s fee of US$75,000.

The Black Rock site covers about 2,000 square kilometres. The area in question contains lithium values “well below those of producing lithium brines”, but do represent a “significant source of metal available for evaporative concentration,” LiCo said. 

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Energy storage is set to become a major revenue earner for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in 2017. Recent moves in Europe and Asia show the promise this holds for the company as the energy storage industry takes off worldwide. Some analysts are now starting to recognize this, most recently, Baird. It made Tesla a “top pick” based on what it believes to be an accelerating energy storage business. This caused Baird to give Tesla a price target of $338 (the current stock price is $226.99). Indeed, its stock price rose markedly on the back of an announcement about battery production at the Gigafactory. This is possibly the start of Tesla’s energy storage being a positive catalyst for its stock price.

My article in October laid out many of the reasons why energy storage was so promising for the company. Recent developments reinforce my thesis.

Tesla’s Advantage

Tesla’s vertical integration model means it is able to integrate up and down the supply chain and produce products like solar panels, racking, inverters and energy storage all in-house. The ability to integrate an inverter with storage gives Tesla many opportunities to entice customers. An inverter turns direct current energy from solar panels into the alternating current used by the grid and by home circuits. As Musk said at a recent earnings call, “solar and batteries go together like peanut butter and jelly.”

Both solar and battery prices continue to fall. Critics who say prices won’t fall further don’t back their argument with good reason. The electricity grid has not really changed since the days of Thomas Edison and, alternative energy and battery storage should completely change everything.

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Oregon has become the latest US state to lay out its foundations for electricity companies to procure and deploy energy storage systems, with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) providing guidelines and timelines.

The state actually enacted bill HB2193, which would authorise utilities to explore the possibilities of deploying energy storage for reasons including deferring spending on transmission infrastructure, back in 2015. The latest document to emerge from the PUC gives details on how it sees that electric companies with over 25,000 retail customers could select storage system providers and present project proposals to the commission. Once approved, they have been given until 2020 to procure projects.

This would apply to two utilities, Pacificorp, trading as Pacific Power, and Portland General Electric Company (PGE). While the systems should have over 5MWh storage capacity each, they would also be capped at 1% of the utility’s peak load in 2014, except, the PUC said, for a project of “statewide significance”. Utilities will be allowed to recover the costs of projects from ratepayers.

GTM Research’s recent report on third quarter 2016 activity in energy storage in the US highlighted policy moves to spur on energy storage development in Oregon and in Massachusetts as two of the states following national leaders California and New York’s lead in recognising the value of energy storage. Massachusetts has determined that it will implement procurement targets for storage, although it has yet to rule on their size or timescale.

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January 4 (SeeNews) – US geothermal company Ormat Technologies Inc (NYSE:ORA) said on Tuesday it has struck a deal to take over Philadelphia-based demand response and energy storage firm Viridity Energy Inc.

The targeted business uses proprietary software to serve primarily retail energy providers, utilities, and large industrial and commercial customers. Currently, it has under contract more than 850 MW across 3,000 sites. This includes the management of a portfolio of non-utility storage assets in the northeastern US with over 80,000 operational market hours.

“Ormat intends to use the Viridity platform to accelerate long term growth, expand its market presence, and further develop Viridity’s demand response VPower software platform and energy storage services,” said Isaac Angel, Ormat’s CEO. He added that in the long term the company would seek to expand in the broader renewable energy market and not just in the geothermal sector.

Under the terms of the deal, Ormat will pay an initial price of USD 35 million (EUR 33.6m) for Viridity and may provide additional payments upon the achievement of certain performance milestones. The transaction is expected to close early this year.

Ormat noted it anticipates Viridity to generate a positive operating income in 2017.

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The bellwether state of Massachusetts often serves as a focal point of energy innovation. Now it has set its sights on energy storage policy.

Over the last few months local and national energy players of various ilk – utility, competitive market, microgrid, distributed energy, renewables, environmental and social justice – have honed in on the state.

Their interest comes as Massachusetts gets ready to set a target for energy storage development that utilities and possibly other electricity providers would be required to meet. Late last month Judith Judson, state energy commissioner, took the next legal step in determining an energy storage target would be ‘prudent.’

Now the state is seeking comments by January 27 on a variety of issues associated with the target, including whether to strive for 600 MW of energy storage — the amount recommended in a state report issued in September — or another target.

The state plans to set the target in July. It also intends to issue a request for proposals offering $10 to $20 million in energy storage grants at a yet to be determined date.

Industry players already have had plenty to say about what’s ahead. Several filed comments last month with the Department of Energy Resources. Some of them have been working in California, the lead state on energy storage policy. They want to bring lessons learned in California to Massachusetts.

Here’s a sampling of what various, sometimes opposing, industry players said Massachusetts should do about energy storage policy.

Utilities on energy storage policy

Utilities are taking a customarily careful approach. Comments filed by Eversource, National Grid and Unitil pushed for aspirational, rather than mandatory targets that carry penalties if the goal isn’t met. They described energy storage as a “nascent technology” and urged that targets reflect manufacturing and development capabilities.

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The Gigafactory has been activated.

Hidden in the scrubland east of Reno, Nev., where cowboys gamble and wild horses still roam—a diamond-shaped factory of outlandish proportions is emerging from the sweat and promises of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It’s known as the Gigafactory, and today its first battery cells are rolling off production lines to power the company’s energy storage products and, before long, the Model 3 electric car. 1

The start of mass production 2 is a huge milestone in Tesla’s quest to electrify transportation, and it brings to America a manufacturing industry—battery cells—that’s long been dominated by China, Japan, and South Korea. More than 2,900 people are already working at the 4.9 million square-foot facility, 3 and more than 4,000 jobs (including temporary construction work) will be added this year through the partnership between Tesla and Panasonic. 4  

By 2018, the Gigafactory, which is less than a third complete, will double the world’s production capacity for lithium-ion batteries and employ 6,500 full-time Reno-based workers, according to a new hiring forecast from Tesla. The company’s shares, having touched their highest point since August, closed up $10 at $226.99 in New York trading. 

The full activation of the Gigafactory carries existential significance for Tesla, representing a new sense of urgency at a company known for its unreachable deadlines. After missing almost every aggressive product milestone it set for itself over the last decade, Tesla must prove to investors and customers that it can stay on schedule for its first mass-produced car.

There are promising signs. Wednesday marks the third successful target Tesla met for the New Year. The company fulfilled its promise to rapidly complete a massive battery storage project to back up the grid in California 5 ; it rolled out promised software upgrades to cars equipped with new Autopilot hardware 6 ; and now it’s begun battery cell production at the Gigafactory. 7  That said, the company did fall short of its target to deliver 80,000 cars in 2016, reporting just 76,230 completed in time. 

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