Energy Storage News

The California Public Utilities Commission could soon require Calpine replace three natural gas plants in the state with energy storage. The regulators will vote on the matter January 11, the Los Angeles Times reported. Both Calpine and the California Independent System Operator oppose the move, saying the plants are needed to ensure reliability. Two of the targeted gas plants are in Feather River and Yuba, and total 47 MW each. The third, in Metcalf, totals 605 MW. None of the three have long-term contracts with utilities. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times concluded California overbuilt the state’s electrical system, primarily with natural gas facilities.

The expected outcome of utility integrated resource planning (IRP) is the optimum combination of power generation resources that will produce the most cost-effective and reliable generation for the rate-payer. That process is relatively simple for a nuclear and fossil fuel-based system. However, the difficult process of integrating renewable generation has made asset optimization and operational flexibility paramount.

A new report by the Smart Electric Power Alliance indicated 31 utilities, or 43 percent of the utilities surveyed for the study, added energy storage to the grid in the last year. All told, 207 MW of energy storage was deployed last year in 829 systems. Utilities have now installed a total of 622 MW of energy storage in total. As expected, California had the most energy storage established in 2016 at 120.5 MW, much of which was rapidly deployed in response to the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage leak. Indiana was the second at 22 MW, with Ohio at 16.1 MW.

The San Diego County Water Authority announced it will seek detailed proposals for a potential energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir that could total up to 500 MW. The official RFP will go out this summer.

PORTLAND, OR-- Jul 26, 2016) - ESS Inc., the leading manufacturer of a safe, low-cost and long cycle-life battery for renewable energy storage, celebrated a highly successful presence at Intersolar 2016 in San Francisco this month, boosted by strong interest in the company's Iron Flow Battery technology, a steady flow of booth visitors, and an overflow of participants for the site tour at Stone Edge Farm in Sonoma. More than 100 Intersolar attendees took part in a tour of Stone Edge Farm's advanced microgrid -- four times the expected number. The tour's popularity was a reflection of the growing interest in the benefits of energy storage, especially in support of integrating renewables to provide grid services, lowering electricity costs and reducing CO2 emissions. At Stone Edge, ESS's Iron Flow Battery is well suited to provide long-duration storage capacity to supply power at night, for irrigation or hydrogen generation, and during the day to smooth out the intermittencies of solar PV.

The widespread deployment of cost-effective, grid-scale energy storage solutions may still be distant, but the technology appears to be commercially viable. The next step: Getting projects funded and online. Storing electricity on a large scale has been pursued for years by electric utilities in hopes of using the power to cover periods of peak demand. The ability to store large amounts of power will help power producers fill the production gaps created by growing amounts of intermittent generation such as solar and wind power. After years of limited progress, several capable systems for storing large amounts of power have emerged from research and development efforts borne from new mandates for energy storage capacity and public demand for cleaner power supplies. Some grid-scale systems are viable now, while others are on the verge of viability.

Princeton Power Systems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of technology products and embedded software for energy storage, microgrid operations, and electric vehicle charging, today announced the delivery of their latest generation of 100 kW grid-tied inverters to a Lockheed Martin 3 MWh energy storage system launched by Convergent Energy + Power in Boothbay, Maine.

Dynapower Company, the global leader in energy storage inverters, announced that it has expanded the capacity and performance of the micro-grid system at its company headquarters here, by adding 375 kW/250 kWh of lithium-titanate batteries manufactured by Microvast Power Solutions. The Dynapower HQ micro-grid, which also includes 100 kW of photovoltaic (PV) systems, 100 kW of wind power, and 750 kW of additional battery storage capacity, provides local load support and demonstrates how Dynapower energy storage inverters can deliver efficient micro-grid power conversion.

Ideal Power Inc., a developer of a disruptive power conversion technology, today announced it signed a Strategic Supplier Agreement to provide power conversion systems to Green Charge Networks and received a multi-unit order for its 30kW Battery Converter. The units will be used to support Green Charge's intelligent energy storage solution at several California schools in the districts of Mountain View and Tulare. The installations will help the schools reduce costly peak demand charges with a projected cumulative energy savings of more than $1.5 million over the contract term.

Although microgrids are viable options, legal issues and regulatory uncertainty surround their development. Most jurisdictions have not yet developed a clear regulatory framework for microgrid applications, and developers must navigate a complex maze of legal and technical issues to develop and implement a microgrid system. Because the regulatory landscape remains somewhat uncertain, it is imperative that developers understand the issues relating to the jurisdiction of a proposed microgrid project.

The State of Michigan Secondary Complex in Dimondale is a 13-building campus comprised of the state's police academy, police post, test and research labs, office space, warehouses, vehicle maintenance service garages and more. The facility's original energy center was constructed in 1975 and featured electric chillers and gas-fired boilers. Since the original installation of the energy center, buildings within the complex have undergone renovations, additions and changes in functions, greatly improving the efficiency of heating and cooling operations. Energy consumption used for heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) was identified as a significant part of the complex's operating budget. Savings in energy costs through strategic energy efficiency upgrades would mean large returns.

Moriah Hydro Corp. on Oct. 4 filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a draft license application on the 260-MW Mineville Pumped Storage Project, which would use a shut underground mine located in the Town of Moriah, N.Y.

Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Electricity Storage Association (ESA) have formed a new partnership to accelerate grid storage systems and renewables. We're focused on modernizing the grid, making it more balanced, efficient, clean, reliable and cost-effective.  (They are) working collaboratively with ESA on the Energy Storage Investment Tax Credit gaining support in Congress.

The energy management method comprises the steps of retrieving load information from at least one load and retrieving energy-supplying information from an energy supply system having ... an energy storage module ...

Fraunhofer scientists have recently made an important breakthrough with their development of a redox flow battery that reaches stack power up to 25 kW, with a cell size of 0.5 square meters. This is eight times larger than the previous A4-sized systems. They will be presenting the new battery for the first time at the Hannover Messe trade show (from April 8-12).

The system further includes a bidirectional converter and an energy storage device coupled to the bidirectional converter. The system also includes a control system to generate commands for controlling a state of charge of the energy storage device.

Sharon E. Burke, the assistant secretary of defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs, told industry partners and congressional leaders at the American Council on Renewable Energy's National Renewable Energy Policy Forum that the motivation for seeking out clean energy sources is strongly rooted in national security interests.

DayStar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSTI) said today its board of Directors has approved the acquisition of a 20% equity ownership in BC-based Premier Global Holdings Corporation, which has successfully demonstrated solar cells that are the first to combine energy generation and power storage in one cell.

Public Service Company of New Mexico's Prosperity Energy Storage Project will show how (East Penn) batteries can smooth out the ups and downs of utility-scale solar photovoltaic plants.

ZBB Energy has shipped a 1000kWh / 500kW-rated energy storage system for use in a microgrid application at the San Nicolas Island Naval Facility, located in the Catalina Island group, west of Los Angeles, California.

Current experimental systems aim to be more efficient.  Isothermic systems use a coolant to absorb hear, keeping the air at a near constant temperature. The coolant, stored separately, is tapped later to give back the energy through a heat exchange system. Others, known as adiabatic, allow the temperature of the compressed air to rise and fall, using the air, when hot, to warm heat storage units that retain energy within the system.

A power storage apparatus is electrically connected between wind power generation apparatuses and a power grid.

Empresa Eléctrica Cochrane, a subsidiary of Chilean generator AES Gener , has filed an EIA with Chile’s environmental evaluation service for a $24.5 million battery energy storage system (BESS) in northern region II, according to BNamericas.

"An electricity storage device controller causes the electricity storage device to store or discharge electricity on the basis of the reduced output, the suppressed-noise output, and the requested power grid output from the power grid."