Following on the heels of record breaking year, energy storage in 2016 is on track to break through last year’s record.

The year-over-year increase will likely not be as dramatic as 2015’s 243% increase over 2014, but several developments in 2016 show that the storage market is developing in ways that could clear a path for accelerated growth in future years.

In its third quarter, the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association said they expect the U.S. energy storage market to grow to 260 MW in 2016, up from 226 MW in 2015.

Analysts, however, say that it is not just the size and number of the installations in 2016 that is notable, but the quality and specific characteristics of those installations.

2016 has been a “transition year” for U.S. energy storage, said Brett Simon, energy storage analyst with GTM Research. And Alex Eller, energy storage analyst with Navigant Research, said “2016 has seen a much more diverse energy storage market, both in terms of the types of systems (market segments) being deployed and the business models.” While utility scale installations dominated the market in previous years, Eller said 2016 has seen more progress at all market levels. He pointed to contracts for demand response capacity and utility ownership programs as key drivers in that transition.

In June, for instance, Consolidated Edison, along with SunPower and Sunverge, announced a $15 million pilot program for a virtual power plant.

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NextEra had been on the verge of selling its Wyman plant, but after it proved its mettle during the Polar vortex, the company opted to keep the plant. But Wyman is oil-fired, and NextEra is better known for renewables and clean energy technology. The addition of a 16 MW battery system helps bring the plant in line with the company’s overall direction.

Greentech Media reported last year that NextEra plans to invest $100 million in battery storage for its solar and wind projects. Vijay Singh, NextEra’s executive director of business development for energy storage, told the news outlet that the company anticipates battery storage will play a much larger role on the grid within the next five years. NextEra already operates batteries in conjunction with renewables in the PJM territory.

Last year, NextEra Energy CEO Jim Robo said that by 2020 energy storage will begin to replace gas peaking plants.  Robo expects energy storage prices to fall in a similar fashion to solar costs, which would put the technology on par cost-wise with gas peaker plants.

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The holy grail for lowering electric rates in Maine is to increase winter supplies of natural gas, the fuel used to generate half the region’s power. For years, proponents sought to do it with new and expanded pipelines.

That effort isn’t dead, but most major pipeline proposals are stagnating or have been defeated by environmental and community opposition. Now there’s a alternative solution: Build a big tank in Maine, along existing pipelines in either Rumford or Brewer. Store natural gas in its liquid form during the summer, when prices are low. Draw it off on cold winter days, when prices are high.

This storage tank could cost $250 million, so the developer is asking the Maine Public Utilities Commission to make electric and gas customers help pay for it over 20 years. Industry officials say LNG storage has a good safety record, and the promise is that if Mainers chip in $25 million annually to contract for storage, a cap set by the Legislature, they’ll save even more on their electric bills. Maine homeowners typically pay between 20 and 24 percent more for electricity than the national average.

But this big tank isn’t the only idea for the PUC to consider.

One company is telling regulators that it’s cheaper to store gas in existing tanks in New Brunswick, Canada, and send it to New England when needed via a pipeline that runs through Maine.

Another company says it’s better to store gas in small, mobile tanks during the winter, close to factories and other big power users.

Other companies are weighing in with their proposals. Some have been so heavily redacted for confidentiality reasons that it’s impossible, so far, for the public to determine what they want to build and where.

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CHISAKI, WATANABE – A patch of land in the shadow of Mount Fuji is becoming a testing ground for energy storage, with some of Japan’s leading companies trying to develop technologies such as spinning flywheels and fuel cells.

The Yamanashi Prefectural Government is hoping that by attracting companies such as Panasonic Corp. and Toray Industries Inc. it can become a kind of Silicon Valley for energy storage development.

As part of a project in the city of Kofu, the prefecture has built a 1-megawatt solar power station that is being made available to developers of storage devices who want to run tests under closed conditions, according to Masaki Sakamoto, an official in charge of the project.

“It’s not easy to find a large-scale solar power station available for pilot projects,” Sakamoto said. “The best scenario would be that advanced research being conducted here leads to more collaboration between major and local companies and the creation of supply chains.”

Projects like the one in Yamanashi underline how Japan is racing to dominate a new age of energy technologies using a model similar to the one used by the nation to develop its automobile and semiconductor industries.

The site in Yamanashi, one of Japan’s sunniest regions, is already home to a flywheel system in a pilot program to adjust output from the solar plant. Flywheel storage devices use spinning drums to store kinetic energy in a way that can later be turned into electricity.

The device at the Yamanashi facility, set up by the Railway Technical Research Institute, uses a super-conducting magnetic bearing that allows the wheel to spin with a minimum of friction. The super-conducting technology is an offshoot of work the institute developed for trains that operate using magnetic levitation. A maglev train is being run through its paces on a test track in Yamanashi Prefecture.

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Tesla Motors has made green-friendly power a reality on yet another island. The gorgeous Ocracoke Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks is now home to 10 Tesla Powerpacks. The island will not have to completely depend on its old method of power – a 3MW diesel generator – as a new microgrid will work in tandem with the diesel system, and solar arrays will provide additional backup power.

As we understand it, these are original 100 kWh Powerpacks, not the recently update Powerpack 2.0 offering (full details here) that are rated at 200 kWh – with Gigafactory built inverters that begin shipping in September.

A microgrid, as defined by the U.S. DOE is:

A group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid and that connects and disconnects from such grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or island mode.

The new system is being managed by Tideland Electric Membership Corporation (TEMC), supplier of the island’s power. The Ocracoke Island power situation is a pilot program between the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) and Tideland. Heidi Smith, a spokeswoman from TEMC shared:

“This is a learning laboratory for Tideland. We’re exploring the potential for a microgrid. The Tesla batteries could potentially help us get over that start-up load. It will be interesting to learn what benefits can be derived from the various microgrid components over time.”

NCEMC’s project manager, Bob Beadle was on the island throughout the installation process. He is excited about the future and proud of the new development. Beadle said:

“We’re setting up here for the electricity of the future.”

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Hong Kong start-up Ampd Energy has launched a novel energy storage system that offers an environmentally friendly and reliable alternativeto pollutive diesel generators for developing countries to deal with frequent blackouts.

The next-generation energy storage system branded Ampd Silo uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to store electricity when power is available, and then provides energywhen the main power source fails. It can be used to replace backup diesel generators that are widely used in the developing world to cope with blackouts caused by inadequate electricity production or poor energy infrastructure.

Ampd is an incubatee of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Corporation (HKSTP). The company joined HKSTP’s Incu-Tech incubation programme in 2015.

“This technology is at the forefront in the industry,” says HKSTP ChiefCommercial Officer Andrew Young.

“It could improve the quality of living for people and contribute to enhance global eco-friendliness. We are glad to see that Ampdhas benefited from the Park’s advanced lab facility and I&T ecosystem. HKSTP is eager to support the development of such technology that contributes to greener and smarter cities.”

For debilitating blackouts in developing countries

The launch of Ampd Silo is especially good news to countries like Indonesia and India, where daily power outages affect millions of lives. A 2016 PWC report estimatesthat the Indonesian manufacturing sector alone loses around US$415 million annually from blackouts.

Diesel generators are often used to keep cities going and hospitals running during blackouts, but such generators pollute the environment and affect people’shealth.

Ampd Silo will offer a clean and safe alterative to help countries with weak electricity grids, like Indonesia, to keep residential, commercial and industrial applicationsin operation during power cuts. Ampd’s sole distribution partner in Indonesia, Yakin Wijaya, who is Director of PT Praptadaya Sumber Perkasa, applauded Ampd’s breakthrough technology. “Ampd Silo has the potential to transform the way Indonesian companies operate.It will increase productivity, allowing companies to focus on their core businesses,” he said.

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A patch of land in the shadow of Mount Fuji is becoming a testing ground for energy storage, with some of Japan’s leading companies trying to develop technologies such as spinning flywheels and fuel cells. 

The government of Yamanashi, a prefecture 102 kilometers (63 miles) west of Tokyo, is hoping that by attracting companies such as Panasonic Corp. and Toray Industries Inc. it can become a kind of Silicon Valley for energy storage development.

As part of a project in Kofu City, the prefecture has built a 1-megawatt solar power station that’s being made available to developers of storage devices who want to run tests under closed conditions, according to Masaki Sakamoto, an official in charge of the project.

“It’s not easy to find a large-scale solar power station available for pilot projects,” Sakamoto said. “The best scenario would be that advanced research being conducted here leads to more collaboration between major and local companies and the creation of supply chains.”

Projects like the one in Yamanashi underline how Japan is racing to dominate a new age of energy technologies using a model similar to the one used by the nation to develop its automobile and semiconductor industries.

The site in Yamanashi, one of Japan’s sunniest regions, is already home to a flywheel system in a pilot program to adjust output from the solar plant. Flywheel storage devices use spinning drums to store kinetic energy in a way that can later be turned into electricity.

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When Elon Musk released the second generation of Tesla’s home battery in October, one of the key upgrades was the inclusion of an inverter.

That piece of power electronics plays a vital role in switching the battery’s electricity from DC to AC so it can be used in the house or sold back to the grid. The first Powerwalls required a separate inverter, adding time and expense to an installation. Putting Tesla’s in-house inverter in the box amounted to a significant advance in the customer experience.

It turns out, the situation is a little more complicated.

The Powerwall 2 actually comes in two different versions: an AC-coupled model that includes the inverter and a DC-coupled one that does not. That’s a departure from the company’s product website, which says the new Powerwall is an “all-in-one” product that “uses an internal inverter to convert DC energy to the AC energy required for your home.” 

Tesla didn’t advertise its decision to offer both types of battery, but doing so gives installers more options in designing the best system for a given house. And Tesla says it will charge the same price either way.

A choice of architectures

By quietly offering Powerwalls with or without an inverter, Tesla is providing installers options to customize the product for homeowners, without asking the customer to think through the details of power electronics.

“Tesla is trying to simplify the information that it’s providing to the end customers, whereas other companies will specifically say, ‘This is an AC-coupled system or a DC-coupled system,'” said Ravi Manghani, energy storage director at GTM Research. “It’s probably an information overload in some cases.”

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Southern California Edison (SCE) on Dec. 20 filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a Generator Interconnection Agreement with PPA Grand Johanna LLC for a 2 MW storage project.

The utility also filed a notice of cancellation of a prior Engineering, Design, Procurement and Construction Letter Agreement for this project, which is superseded by the GIA.

In May 2016, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) issued a resolution authorizing expedited procurement of storage resources to ensure electric reliability in the Los Angeles Basin due to limited operations of the damaged Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility.

The resolution, among other things, required SCE to hold an expedited competitive energy storage procurement solicitation to help alleviate outage risks during the upcoming winter of 2016-2017. The resolution also requires SCE to take all reasonable steps to expedite the interconnection process to allow utility-owned or third-party owned storage resources to connect to the grid. Storage projects secured through this solicitation are required to be online by Dec. 31, 2016.

Pursuant to this resolution, on June 17, PPA Grand Johanna submitted an Interconnection Request to interconnect 2 MW battery storage project named the 2 MW Powin Bess, Irvine, California Project located in Irvine, California. It wants SCE to interconnect the project on the Virgo 12 kV distribution line out of the Estrella 66/12 kV Substation to transmit energy to the California Independent System Operator-controlled grid.

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