While states like California and Hawaii lead the growing market for energy storage, the potential in the Midwest is growing.
Minnesota is seeing a small but growing number of lithium ion battery storage projects that will be discussed along with other battery-related topics at the Midwest Energy Storage Summit in Minneapolis Sept. 15.
Sponsored by the the Energy Transition Lab at the University of Minnesota, the event features speakers such as Mary Powell, CEO and president of Green Mountain Power; Christopher Clark, president of Xcel Energy for Minnesota and the Dakotas; George Crabtree of Argonne National Laboratory and Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage Association.
The transition lab’s initial conference, two years ago, was the first time in Minnesota experts and industry officials came together to discuss storage, according to Barbara Jacobs, energy storage project manager. One result of the conference was the creation of the Minnesota Energy Storage Alliance to share knowledge and promote battery storage.
“There seems to be a lot of interest and excitement about storage across the board right now,” Jacobs said.
So what’s the difference between storage between now and two years ago? One is clearly dropping prices and increased production of lithium ion batteries, accompanied by products from Tesla, Panasonic, LG and many others.
Secondly, utilities are taking greater interest, with 80 percent nationwide considering storage projects, according to a recent survey.
Minnesota utilities are stepping up with projects and proposals. Xcel Energy proposed a solar storage battery project that regulators failed to approve while allowing the utility another chance to submit it after making changes.
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