Energy Storage News

While power sector holdouts such as FirstEnergy get headlines by pushing for disingenuous regulatory changes in a vain attempt to make the future look like the past, many U.S. power companies are seeing the light in the low and predictable costs of large-scale wind and solar. One of the leaders in this regard is Florida power company NextEra Energy. The company’s Q1 2018 results show NextEra building not only large amounts of solar both through generation arm NextEra Energy Resources and utility Florida Power and Light, but also beginning to deploy large-scale energy storage through both companies.

Most of us are solar power professionals, for example we’re reading pv magazine. However, for those of us who haven’t already, it’s probably time to start paying attention to how energy storage will affect our business – because the largest players in our field have been modeling large scale energy storage projects for at least three years. The Energy Storage Association (ESA) has been watching also – and they’ve articulated their thoughts in a white paper: 35X25: A Vision for Energy Storage. In this document, focused on the years between now and 2025, the ESA describes market drivers for growth, how to value energy storage, where and how it expects the growth to happen and what we have to continue to do in order to make this real.

Kelly Speakes-Backman, the CEO of the Energy Storage Association, spoke with pv magazine about storage and the challenges of state-level advocacy at ESA's annual conference in Boston.  As solar industry professionals, we’re all familiar with the 50 state markets that we deal with. What are the politicians thinking? Is there a new Governor coming in? What is the business environment going to look like in six? nine? twenty-four months? And how much should we invest in our operations in these complex states?

As energy storage continues to grow in the U.S., SMA is pleased to sponsor and exhibit at the Energy Storage Association’s (ESA) 28th Annual Conference and Expo, which will take place April 18-20, 2018, in Boston, Mass. ESA is the premier storage-affiliated trade association in the U.S., and its conference is an ideal opportunity for networking, education and collaboration among solar and storage professionals.

The power company, which recently placed bids to build the largest battery energy storage projects in the world, has connected the largest solar (74.5MW)+storage (10MW/40MWh) project in the United States to the grid. NextEra is one of the world’s largest owners of renewable energy, and they’re taking steps to be in the same position in the energy storage market. The company was recently discovered, per a tip from one of pv magazine’s readers, to be behind the largest energy storage bids yet received globally – and now they’re announcing the nation’s largest solar+battery storage project connected to the power grid.

The IRS published a Private Letter Ruling last Friday, responding to a request to determine whether, the cost of installing energy storage to be integrated into a residential PV system would qualify as a “qualified solar electric property expenditure” eligible for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC).

Third time’s the charm? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again? No matter what cliche you prefer, the Hawaii legislature will accept it as long as they’re able to pass a bill allowing any incentives for energy storage installations. For the third straight year, led seemingly quixotically by Senator Lorraine Inouye, Hawaiian legislators are trying to provide electric consumers with incentives to install energy story, this time through Senate Bill 2016.

One of the hottest topics in the industry these days is how utilities will deploy more energy storage to accommodate renewable resources during peak use times, which traditionally fall outside the highest production times for solar-electricity systems (see Curve, Duck). California is, as usual, leading the race toward a solar + storage future, having recently decided to require utilities to include non-fossil fuel alternatives – including electricity storage – to serve during those early evening peak times. But one Oregon utility is making sure it doesn’t fall too far behind in the race.

A new study by NREL finds widespread availability of rates with high demand charges for commercial customers, meaning that businesses across the country could save money with energy storage.

The United States is entering its tenth year of the renewable energy revolution and there’s no slowdown in sight, only more adaptation. Over this time, clean energy jobs have grown 12 times faster than the overall job market, and renewables was one of the very few growth areas during the 2008 recession. The last two years have been no different, with both solar and wind growing at over 20% annually. Compare this to coal which has shed jobs for its fifth consecutive year. At a recent industry conference, a Colorado legislator said that his state is eliminating coal energy at an extraordinary pace—formerly, coal comprised two-thirds of the energy generated, now it is about 50%, and major goals are in place to reduce it to only 25% in a short period.

Finnish provider of energy solutions Wärtsilä has signed an agreement to acquire Greensmith Energy Management for an undisclosed sum. According to a company announcement, the acquisition of the U.S.-based provider of intelligent energy storage technology and solutions will enable Wärtsilä to expand its business in energy storage and to position itself on the global energy system integration market. The transaction is yet to be confirmed by U.S. regulatory approvals/authorities, but rumours have been circulating for months. It follows a recent trend of large firms taking over small but growing energy storage companies.

The popular California Public Utilities Commission program will start receiving applications today for distributed energy projects that incorporate energy storage.

In 2007, KEA set a goal to produce 95 percent of Kodiak’s energy from renewable sources by 2020, to reduce reliance on diesel fuel and lower the cost of generation to customers. Today, the island has achieved that goal through a combination of hydroelectric and wind energy, KEA officials say. The new batteries will permit greater harvesting of wind potential.

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz fondly described solar’s rise from a niche market to a U.S. energy supply mainstay in his exit memo, his last statement before he leaves the office. Moniz, who oversaw such successful programs as the department’s Sunshot Initiative the Department of Energy (DOE)’s successful Loan Program, said the amount of solar powering U.S. homes, businesses and military installations has increased from 1.2 GW to 31 GW in 2016.

Southern California Edison (SCE) is awaiting approval from the California PUC for the third unit within its 27 MW of lithium-ion storage plans. The utility filed in late December with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a Generator Interconnection Agreement with the third of the three, the PPA Grand Johanna LLC for a 2 MW/8MWh storage project called Grand Johanna.