RICHMOND, Calif., and NEW YORK — Owners of grocery stores and other cold storage facilities in parts of Brooklyn and Queens can now receive incentives from Con Edison’s Neighborhood Program for installing Axiom Exergy’s thermal energy storage system. The Axiom Exergy Refrigeration Battery stores cooling instead of electricity to help businesses manage their energy usage, reduce demand charges on their electric bills, and prevent food spoilage. Over $5 million worth of Refrigeration Battery systems are set to be installed at supermarkets and other businesses in the Brooklyn and Queens areas covered by Con Edison’s Neighborhood Program. The 1.5-2 MW of energy storage set to be installed has the capacity to shift in aggregate of 6-8 MWh of energy. Businesses are eligible for incentives under the program and Con Edison is working with customers to reduce their energy usage while still having the lighting, heating and cooling, and appliances they need to run their businesses.

“We’re thrilled to see that Con Edison is taking an innovative approach to help address surging power demand on its grid by working with grocery store and cold storage facility owners to reduce their energy bills and enhance their razor-thin profit margins,” said Amrit Robbins, president and co-founder of Axiom Exergy. “By deploying Refrigeration Battery systems, these locations can convert power-hungry refrigeration systems into intelligent ‘batteries’ that can respond dynamically to the needs of the facility and the grid operator, taking into account energy prices, weather patterns, and grid programs like demand response.” 

Using the Axiom Exergy thermal energy storage technology, businesses with large refrigeration-based energy loads can reduce their peak electricity demand by up to 40 percent, said the company. The Refrigeration Battery can shift six hours of a building’s refrigeration-based electricity loads. It uses the existing refrigeration system’s excess capacity to “store cooling” at night by freezing a tank of salt water.

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TULSA, OK–(Marketwired – September 22, 2016) – 3DIcon Corporation (“3DIcon”) (OTC PINK: TDCP), which is scheduled to close on its acquisition of Coretec Industries LLC this month, announced that, through Coretec and its silicon materials technologies, it will commence the commercialization of Coretec’s proprietary high value liquid silicon precursor, cyclohexasilane, Si₆H₁₂ (“CHS”), for use within the growing battery energy storage market.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are rechargeable batteries commonly used in portable electronics where weight, size and time between charging are critical. Theglobal market for Li-ion batteries is witnessing a significant growth owing to their increasing use in smartphones, tablets/PCs, digital cameras, and power tools and is estimated to be $46.2 billion dollars by 2022. Additionally, the demand for Li-ion batteries in the automobile industry is increasing as electric vehicles enter the market in greater volume.

A key challenge remaining for the broader adoption of Li-ion batteries is a need for further improvements in the amount of energy stored combined with the number of times the battery can be recharged before it must be replaced. Under current practice the capacity of Li-ion batteries is being enhanced by adding silicon while advances in improving the lifetime continue to be made by varying how the silicon is added. Currently in these cases, monosilane (SiH₄) gas is commonly used as the starting material.

Coretec has licensed technology for the manufacture of CHS and derivatives of CHS. Our strategy is to replace monsilane gas with CHS in these applications. A significant competitive advantage of CHS is that it is a liquid at room temperature and not explosive, making it easier and safer to handle than monosilane gas. CHS can also be converted into silicon directly from a liquid or gas, allowing greater flexibility in processing. We have shown that CHS can be easily converted into films, nanoparticles and nanofibers, all of which have been considered for use in Li-ion batteries.

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The UK-based energy storage project developer Camborne Energy Storage is the first company in Europe to install a grid-scale Tesla Powerpack system, following a recent installation in Somerset (England), according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.

The new Tesla Powerpack energy storage installation is an accompaniment to a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) project that’s already located at the site. The new solar PV + battery storage installation reportedly has “the capacity to provide power for over 500 homes.” (This is perhaps not the most useful way of explaining the size of the installation, as some commentators here often point out, but it is important for those who aren’t familiar with industry terminology.)

The installation choice was the result of Camborne execs wanting to demonstrate the ability to contribute to the creation/maintenance of a balanced grid — and, thus, to help pave the way for the firm’s growth ambitions in that area (co-located generation + energy storage systems) in the UK.

The Managing Director of Camborne, Dan Taylor, commented: “the development of Tesla’s first European grid-tied system is an exciting step forward for Camborne and Tesla in terms of our respective storage strategies. This project is another success for storage development in the UK and being co-located with a renewable generation site, should offer significant benefits to all stakeholders.”

Camborne currently has over 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) worth of energy storage projects in planning in the UK.

The new Tesla Powerpack energy storage system located at the Somerset solar PV project was installed by EPC Poweri Services.

More information on Camborne can be found on the company’s website.

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BMW has a couple of initiatives to give a second life to used battery packs from its electric vehicles. Earlier this year, the German automaker announced a wall mounted battery storage system, not unlike the Tesla Powerwall, using BMW i3 22 kWh or 33kWh battery packs.

Today it announced that it completed and started testing, in partnership with Bosch, a new utility-scale energy storage facility again using used electric vehicle battery packs –  but the scale is much more impressive.

The new power station is located in Hamburg, Germany. It uses 2,600 battery modules from more than 100 electric vehicles for a total power capacity of 2 MW and a storage capacity of 2.8 MWh.

The system is used to stabilize the grid and reduce the impact of peak demand. Vattenfall, the energy company operating the project, highlights the advantage of battery packs that can just turn on in a matter of seconds.

Here’s a press release via Bosch:

A second life for used batteries

Vattenfall, BMW and Bosch test power storage in Hamburg

• 2,600 used battery modules from more than 100 electric vehicles are connected together to form a large power storage
• Stored energy is seconds available and helps to keep the power supply stable
• Cordelia Thielitz, Managing Bosch Energy Storage Solutions: “Electricity storage is a critical success factor for the energy transition.”

Hamburg/Munich/Stuttgart – What should be done with still-usable batteries at the end of their life cycle in electric vehicles? The Battery 2nd Life project organized by Vattenfall, BMW and Bosch merges them into a large storage facility in Hamburg, Germany, to keep the electricity grid stable.

Storage stabilizes the electricity grid within seconds

Electromobility and electricity storage are two core elements of the new energy landscape. Used batteries from electric vehicles are being merged to form a large electricity storage facility in Hamburg. The stored energy is available within seconds and can help to keep the electricity grid stable. Electricity storage is essential to enable a stable electricity supply with alternative energy sources. Natural fluctuations in solar power plants and wind turbines must be compensated as much as possible using storage methods with the greatest possible efficiency.

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RENO — Tesla officials on Thursday clarified earlier remarks and said Tesla’s Gigafactory under construction east of here is expected to begin producing lithium-ion batteries late this year for the electric car maker’s Model 3.

Daniel Witt, senior manager of business development and U.S. policy for Tesla Motors, on Wednesday said the battery storage side of the Tesla Motors business plan received a big boost last week when it was announced that the company won a contract to provide Southern California Edison with 80 megawatts of battery storage at one substation.

It will be one of the largest such projects in the world.

The storage units will be produced at the company’s Nevada Gigafactory, which now has to ramp up more quickly to fulfill the contract.

“This is a big deal for Nevada,” Witt said. “There is a one-to-one correlation between the growth of energy storage products and the growth of the Gigafactory project.”

Battery storage, where excess electricity generation is stored so it can be used when it is needed, is the answer to reducing the need for an expansion of traditional peak generation sources, he said.

The New Energy Industry Task Force, re-established by Gov. Brian Sandoval to review green energy policy issues, is considering a recommendation that Nevada’s utility, NV Energy, procure energy storage products to offset the need for new grid infrastructure by 2020.

The Legislature is likely to consider a similar policy when it convenes next year.

“What we’re looking to do, in going back to the mission, is catalyze an entire shift over to more sustainable energy,” Witt said. “The problem, if you want to call it that, with the sun, is that it is only up 12 to 14 hours a day.

“This is transformative in a way frankly that the vehicle application has been in the previous five years,” he said. “Where this is most transformative, most applicable today, is in the commercial and industrial market.”

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The government of Massachusetts released a study last Friday that lays out the costs and benefits of energy storage, setting the stage for a storage mandate that is yet to be determined.

The report concludes that 600 megawatts of storage capacity installed by 2025 would save the state’s ratepayers $800 million in system costs. Not only that, but if storage is properly located and market and policy barriers are removed, a deployment of 1,766 megawatts would optimize system benefits for ratepayers.

Plenty of researchers have modeled the value that storage and other distributed energy resources can provide for the grid. The State of Charge report, though, comes after Governor Charlie Baker signed an energy bill in August authorizing the Department of Energy Resources to set a storage target. That same department co-authored this report, marking one of the very few times when the authors of such research have the legal authority to enact their recommendations.

“These findings will be a driving force for establishing procurement goals in the state, and clearly demonstrate that the value of energy storage extends far ‘beyond the fence’ of any one system,” wrote Energy Storage Association Executive Director Matt Roberts in an email Friday.

Assuming the department follows through on its prerogative, Massachusetts will be only the third state to issue a mandate for energy storage, following California and Oregon. Since storage can provide readily available power during peak demand events, it’s useful to measure a target as a percentage of a state’s peak load. The 600-megawatt figure in the report would equate to about 5 percent of Massachusetts’ peak load, whereas Oregon’s target is 1 percent and California’s is 2 percent.

“In peak load percentage metrics, this is already a more aggressive target than the other two states,” said Ravi Manghani, energy storage director at GTM Research.

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The U.S. energy storage market is in a period of transition.

Last year was a big one for storage, with Q4 2015 alone logging more total megawatts deployed than 2013 and 2014 combined. This growth drew increased attention from investors, regulators, consumers, and system operators. And in 2016, battery storage has expanded its foothold beyond its historically favorable markets, capitalizing on improved economics and a renewed focus on reliability. GTM Research has analyzed several key indicators of a transition for America’s storage market.

Front-of-the-meter deployment trends

The front-of-the-meter energy storage market logged another strong quarter in Q2 2016, recording 32 megawatts of new installations. This new capacity is down 10 percent from Q2 2015, but up over threefold from Q1 2016, continuing the trend from 2015 of deployments increasing toward the end of the calendar year.

Grid-scale energy storage is getting traction outside of its historically strong markets. New deployments in PJM are down in 2016 following the institution of an interim cap on RegD resources the frequency regulation market. For the first time since Q2 2014, PJM did not represent the majority of utility-scale deployments.

Front-of-the-meter policy trends

Policy developments dominated news in the front-of-the-meter market. Energy storage procurements in response to the Aliso Canyon gas leak in California could serve as a case study for energy storage as an expedited solution to capacity issues. SDG&E has signed an agreement with AES to install and commission 37.5 megawatts of Samsung batteries by January 2017. SCE has announced two 20-megawatt projects, one to be built by AltaGas with Greensmith batteries and one using Tesla batteries, along with a 2-megawatt project by Powin Energy and a 5-megawatt project from Western Grid. Successful deployment in the short timeframe required would be a tremendous success story for grid-scale batteries, and serve as further proof of the technology’s speed of installation and potential to enhance reliability.

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The California Public Utilities Commission on Sept. 20 issued a final written approval, following a review of the matter at a Sept. 15 commission meeting, on four energy storage agreements for Pacific Gas and Electric and three energy storage agreements for Southern California Edison.

Two purchase and sale agreements for PG&E were not approved. The commission determined that SCE has met its 2014 energy storage targets with approval of these contracts, but that PG&E has not yet met its 2014 targets.

In December 2010, the commission opened a rulemaking to implement the provisions of Assembly Bill 2514. AB 2514 directed the commission to determine appropriate targets, if any, for each load-serving entity to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems and set dates for any targets deemed appropriate to be achieved. In response to this mandate, the commission adopted a biennial storage procurement program.

In December 2015, SCE and PG&E filed applications seeking approval of the results of their 2014 Energy Storage Request for Offers. SCE sought approval for three contracts for a total of 16.3 MW of distribution-connected storage. PG&E sought approval for four energy storage agreements whose function is generation/market participation and two purchase and sale agreements whose purpose is distribution deferral for a total of 72 MW.

Although PG&E‘s short-listed bidders included resources in all three grid domains (transmission, distribution, and behind the meter), the contracted resources connect only at the tr

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Massachusetts plans to offer $10-$20 million in energy storage grants this fall, as it positions for a paradigm shift in the economics of electricity.

State officials described the upcoming solicitation in a call Friday with the media, with release of a new report, “State of Charge,” which calls for Massachusetts to add 600 MW of energy storage by 2025.

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The US is to invest $37 million (£27.7m) in new energy storage projects.

A total of 16 projects will receive a share of the fund from the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

By creating high performance parts built with solid ion conductors, the programme will focus on new ways to process and integrate these into devices to accelerate their commercial deployment.

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