The US energy regulator has opened a consultation process on the integration of energy storage into a competitive market structure.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it wanted “to more effectively integrate electric storage resources into organised wholesale markets to enhance competition and help ensure that these markets produce just and reasonable rates”.

It has circulated a proposal and requested input from the country’s six regional transmission organisations (RTO) and independent system operators (ISO).

The proposal would require each RTO and ISO to alter their tariff structure in order to recognise the specific characteristics of energy storage resources and classify storage operators in a way that enables their participation in wholesale energy markets.

“Today’s announcement is a major step forward in transforming America’s power sector, and FERC’s action lays the foundation for competitive markets where energy storage and distributed energy resources are considered side-by-side with traditional grid assets,” said Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association.

“Regulatory and market certainty is paramount for our emerging industry, and the outcomes of this rulemaking will undoubtedly fuel continued energy storage growth – bringing even more jobs and investment in the advanced energy economy, and accelerating our transition to a more resilient, flexible, and sustainable grid,” he added.

The public have 60 days from the date of publication to respond. FERC began working with network operators in the spring.

The latest proposal is available online.

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It makes more sense from an economic standpoint to recycle old plug-in electric vehicle batteries than to reuse them directly for home energy storage, according to a new report from Lux Research.

The primary reason? According to Lux Research, reused plug-in electric vehicle batteries will “deliver questionable returns on account of reduced performance, limiting them to application with less frequent and shallower depth of discharge cycles.”

This echoes what Tesla CTO JB Straubel said earlier this year. Tesla has said repeatedly that it plans to recycle almost 100% of the materials in its batteries at its Gigafactory. When asked about simply reusing batteries instead of recycling them, though, JB Straubel indicated that Tesla continuously finds that this doesn’t work out as a cost-competitive approach. Here were his comments on the matter:

“We’ve looked at reuse or kind of the second life of automotive batteries for grid applications very closely, and you know, ultimately, every time we’ve studied this we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not a very economical or very good use of those assets.

“You know, by the time they come out of a vehicle that’s lived its life, the technology will be quite old. We expect 10 maybe 15 year life at a minimum from these batteries. And, you know, the degradation is not entirely linear. By the end of their life, the efficiency has degraded on every cycle, you see lower efficiency, the capacity will have somewhat degraded, and for a lot of reasons, it makes it very difficult to deploy those efficiently back into a grid setting, where you want high reliability and you do want predictability.

“So, my view is that we’ll see new batteries dedicated to that market, that also have slightly different characteristics — they should have higher cycle life. In an electric vehicle that has 200+ miles of range, you don’t need as many cycles as you do on a battery that’s designed to charge and discharge every single day on the grid. There’s perhaps a factor of about 4 or 5 difference in the cycle life — so that’s one aspect.”

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Pumped-storage hydro is a known concept. It is the largest existing form of storing peak electricity for time slots with less supply.

Now Fraunhofer has started an experiment with a new idea. According to Georg Küffner writing at FAZ,  they built a sphere with concrete, diameter of three meters. Then they immersed that into the Bodensee lake.

The idea is to have a large sphere at the bottom of some lake or ocean and use that as the lower reservoir of pumped storage.

I have no idea if that works out to be cheaper than using mountains. But it might be a good idea for small scale projects sitting right next to some wind park. One advantage that comes to mind: This would probably be fast to build and modular, so you could start out small and easily add capacity as needed. That’s one of the advantages of solar and wind projects as well, so this might be a nice fit for them. In contrast, the old concept needs to build at a large scale fixed for decades.

Anyway, just like the idea of moving mountains, I thought it was worth keeping in mind.

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The energy storage industry is growing leaps and bounds, and opportunities for energy storage deployment are quickly opening across the country and around the world. Today, in the United States, we seem to be revising our projection estimates each quarter, anticipating even more deployments as markets and regulations are recognizing the value of energy storage systems. According to the US Energy Storage Monitor, deployment grew by more than 256 percent in 2015, and 2016 is on pace to be another record setting year in the U.S. alone. Markets across the globe are adopting cost-effective, reliable energy storage as well, with more than 2 gigawatts (GW) of new systems announced this year.

What are the main obstacles for broader energy storage deployment?

While energy storage is quickly advancing, historically these types of advanced energy systems have not been commonplace on the grid. This presents a number of challenges to overcome to ensure that storage systems have fair access to competitive markets and utility procurements. The two main obstacles are implementing regulations and market structures that account for storage systems operating parameters; and ensuring that competitive markets recognize the value that these systems provide and compensate performance and value delivered.

First and foremost, to be regulated is to be recognized, and even though systems are quickly going in around the country, most markets, integrated resource plans (IRPs), and utility procurements do not consider energy storage systems alongside traditional utility assets. Instead, we commonly see outmoded assets like peaker plants being procured without first considering multiple other solutions that are present and cost-effective today (energy storage, demand response, efficiency measures, etc.). ‘All-source’ RFPs – and IRPs that weigh storage side-by-side with other solutions – will drive innovative markets forward, encouraging regulators and decision makers to properly value the system-wide benefits that energy storage delivers.

When market and procurement consideration is given to energy storage, we must also make sure that we are properly valuing these systems and providing system owners compensation for the increased performance, resiliency, and flexibility delivered to the grid. In both short and long duration applications, storage systems enable us to operate the grid more efficiently and increases overall system reliability, saving money for utilities and ratepayers alike while improving overall system operations. But these savings and performance improvements, along with many other value streams that storage delivers, are not properly reflected in our markets and regulations.

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Achieves numerous industry firsts based on diversity of systems, customers, and experience deploying and controlling systems.

Solidifying its position as the leading provider of intelligent energy storage, Stem, Inc. announced that it was the first customer-sited energy storage developer to help Southern California Edison (SCE) meet local grid reliability needs.

Leveraging a relationship with SCE through the utility’s Local Capacity Requirements (LCR) procurement, Stem became the utility’s first energy storage partner to bring online some of its systems that will be used to deliver flexible capacity in Southern California. The fleet includes North America’s largest indoor energy storage system (1.3 MW) at Park Place in Irvine, systems at John Hancock Insurance—also 1 MW—and Soka University in Aliso Viejo. On November 9, 2016, Stem dispatched its fleet to meet SCE’s demonstration test requirement in the LCR program as part of preparations to meet regional winter energy needs.

“The systems Stem has installed represent another step forward in our plans for a modernized grid that will enhance reliability and lower greenhouse gas emissions,” said SCE Vice President for Energy Procurement and Management Colin Cushnie.

In another industry first, Stem aggregated and deployed indoor and outdoor systems featuring three types of batteries and inverters at multiple sites for a diverse set of customers. The successful dispatch of capacity makes these systems the first distributed energy resource of its kind to be integrated into any of SCE’s demand response programs.

“This further demonstrates that Stem is building and operating the largest digitally-connected energy storage network and using world-class analytics to optimize the value of customers’ energy assets to deliver grid services,” said John Carrington, Stem’s CEO. “Our customers can begin saving money from day one and contribute to local reliability from these big, customer-sited systems.”

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The new system’s power capacity ranges from 30 to 200 kW power and up to 335 kWh. Occupying up to 4.5 square meters floor space, the QINOUS ESS QCompact includes a complete AC storage system and energy management system. The company claims the system is ideally suited for use in remote regions with no connection to a national grid as well as for grid-connected use in commercial or community applications.

The energy management system manages the flow of energy between various generation units, such as solar plants and diesel generators, and controls frequency and voltage in the grid. There is also a function that makes off-grid operation possible, so area networks can be supplied with a stable source of electricity in the event of a power failure.

QINOUS monitors the state of the components and the system performance is accessible via a secure web-based monitoring system. 

The energy storage housing is made of aluminum and high quality insulation material. The interior is divided into two compartments, with the area for the batteries and electronics  temperature-regulated and almost airtight to protect against aging which could result from high temperatures, dust, salt mist, insects, and moisture. The other compartment contains the heat exchanger and transformer.

A QINOUS ESS QcompactM with 90 kW and 165 kWh will soon be put into operation in a village in Tanzania.  Together with an existing solar facility, the company hopes it will ensure a clean energy supply for the village. “The solar facility in combination with our storage unit offers the ideal solution for the village to gain more independence from expensive, environmentally harmful diesel fuel,” says Busso von Bismarck, Head of Business Development at QINOUS. 

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission just took its strongest step yet to initiate markets for energy storage across the nation.

The commission, which governs interstate power transmission and wholesale markets, proposed a rule Thursday that would require each regional transmission organization and independent system operator to create rules for energy storage to participate in wholesale markets. The new regulations would have to recognize “the physical and operational characteristics of electric storage resources,” which differ from traditional grid infrastructure in that they can act as both a load and a generator, and perform a multitude of functions if given the chance.

If approved, the proposed rule could greatly expand the role of energy storage in wholesale markets — and the size of the industry itself. So far, storage has been relegated to the few areas that passed enabling policies.

The PJM grid operator created a frequency regulation market and became the largest U.S. market for energy storage. It has seen 250.5 megawatts of cumulative deployments since 2013, according to GTM Research. The California ISO established a “non-generator” resource type that allowed storage to compete in the markets, and California became the second most prolific U.S. market for energy storage, with 73.2 megawatts deployed.

ISOs and RTOs serve about 70 percent of the country, so if FERC requires all ISOs and RTOs to adopt similar policies, the geographically cloistered storage industry could quickly go nationwide.

“This isn’t just clarifying existing rules; it’s redefining the rules to acknowledge the fact that energy storage cannot adequately participate right now and changing the rules to accommodate it,” said Daniel Finn-Foley, senior analyst for energy storage at GTM Research. “It’s a really big deal.”

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Tesla stores aren’t just for cars anymore.

The maker of electric vehicles said on Monday that it has revamped “dozens” of locations to display the Powerwall home battery and informative graphics on energy storage. The additions coincide with Tesla Motors’ acquisition of solar energy company SolarCity, which was approved by shareholders on Thursday and closed Monday.

The Powerwall home battery stores solar energy for use at night and in cases of power grid failure. The batteries were added to stores in California, Hawaii, the U.K. and Australia, among other locations in North America and Europe. Tesla customers can order the battery in-store or online.

Tesla’s inclusion of energy products takes it further away from the traditional dealership model. The automaker has battled state governments to sell vehicles directly to consumers rather than through a franchised dealership network.

It typically places stores and galleries in locations with high foot traffic, such as shopping malls, instead of stand-alone storefronts.

Though the home batteries have only been added to stores in markets that have shown strong demand for energy products, Tesla said it plans to expand the offerings to more locations.

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VANCOUVER , Nov. 21, 2016 /CNW/ – VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. (TSX-V: “VRB”) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has joined Energy Storage Canada (ESC). The ESC is the only energy storage industry association in Canada . ESC was founded in 2012 as a subgroup of the Corporate Partners Committee under the Smart Grid Forum.

Storage is the key to making renewable energy a fully competitive component of any electrical grid. It can make our grid cleaner and more efficient, for the benefit of all consumers – large and small, urban and rural. There is the opportunity, in Canada , to become world leaders in developing energy storage technologies like the vanadium redox flow battery (VRB, VRFB).

VanadiumCorp is launching many initiatives relating to the development of high purity vanadium required for the rapidly growing application of the VRFB.  VRFBs are internationally recognized as proven and commercialized energy storage technology. Since 1984, VRFB technology has evolved parallel to lithium and has increased in energy density for larger applications. Grid scale long duration energy storage is necessary for the emerging need of grid security and modernization. In recent years, the VRFB and high density vanadium lithium batteries have also emerged in applications such as electric vehicles (EVs). There are many advantages of using the single element vanadium in the electrolyte (VE) of a VRFB.  The contained VE never degrades, loses charge or emits any heat or emissions. Without any need for disposal, the reusable VE defines the VRFB as 100% green, sustainable energy storage. The VRFB also outperforms most competing technologies to store the intermittent and disruptive nature of renewable energy. The are very few economical sources of VE globally. Developing stable, low cost supply of VE is critical as VE represents ~42% of the cost of the VRFB system as the core component.

Members of ESC share the common mission to advance the energy storage industry in Canada through collaboration, education, policy advocacy and research. The ESC takes an unbiased view towards technology and is supported by the contributions of our active members. Energy Storage Canada works closely with other energy storage alliances and associations to push the industry forward.

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However, for these units to be tiny yet still efficient, the highest energy density must go into the smallest area.

One approach to carrying this out is to construct microbatteries using films with a thickness of just a few micrometers or less and to replace traditional electrolytes with solid-state ones. Thin film batteries have demonstrated relatively high energy density, which is the amount of energy they can store in a given area. However, they are afflicted by limited cycle life and poor power density, meaning they are slow to charge and discharge.

Microsupercapacitors are a faster alternative, and these may prove suitable for applications requiring power pulsing and very long cycle life.

“Also, while batteries must be charged at a constant voltage, a supercapacitor charges most efficiently by drawing the maximum current that the source can supply, irrespective of voltage,” said KAUST Professor of Material Science and Engineering Husam Alshareef from the University’s Functional Nanomaterials & Devices group.

This makes supercapacitors more appealing for self-powered system applications where the power source may be intermittent.

Alshareef’s team has now developed integrated microsupercapacitors with vertically-scaled three-dimensional porous current collectors made from nickel foams to improve microsupercapacitor performance. The pores in the foam work to increase the surface area.

“This three-dimensional porous architecture allows excellent electrolyte permeability, good conductivity and faster ion transportation with maximum mass-loading of active material, which increase energy and power density in a given area,” Alshareef said.

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