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Houston Company Secures Land Lease in Texas for Unique Energy Storage Project

May 15, 2023

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
May 15, 2023

EarthBridge Energy has acquired acreage in West Texas for an energy storage project the Houston-based company plans to develop.

The company plans to deploy its GeoBattery energy storage technology as part of a hybrid energy development that would include onsite renewable resources.

The technology uses excess electricity from wind and solar farms to pump water into and out of underground reservoirs as a means of storing energy. The process can store energy for between 10 and 1,000 hours and has the potential to bring the installed cost of long duration energy storage to below $10 per kilowatt hour, enabling the deployment of 100 percent carbon oxide free energy at scale, the company said.

To charge, the system draws water from an underground reservoir via a well. At the surface, some of the water is heated and some is chilled by an electrical heat pump. The heated and chilled water are then stored in different zones of an underground reservoir or in different reservoirs.

To discharge, the system brings the heated and chilled water back to the surface where the heat pump system is reversed and used to drive a turbine that converts the thermal energy back to electricity. The outflow water is directed back to the source well.

“Because no geothermal resource is needed, the GeoBattery is highly scalable with global applicability,” the company said via email, adding that because it does not require hot geothermal sources, it can be deployed anywhere a well can be drilled for water. Major sedimentary basins are a sweet spot, EarthBridge said.

EarthBridge said it intends to mainly monetize its technology using price arbitrage in the wholesale energy market, adding that the technology can be deployed in front of the meter, like any generating facility, or behind-the-meter through a power purchase agreement with a wind or solar farm or as an asset sale with a development fee.

There has been growing interest in using the resources and expertise of Texas’ oil and gas industry to aid the transition to a less carbon dioxide intensive energy economy.

A recent study by the University Lands Office, the International Energy Agency and researchers at Texas universities found that almost 80 percent of oil and gas entities interviewed said they already have a geothermal strategy in place or in development.

And although Texas’ subsurface geothermal energy is not as robust as resources in regions with latent volcanic activity, such as California and Nevada where geothermal energy has been used for decades to power turbines, the report noted that Texas’ oil and gas industry is well equipped to drill to tap subsurface geothermal heat that could be used in a variety of novel technologies.

The report noted that Texas has several distinct zones with varying degrees of potential heat energy. Overall, the report found that the geothermal heat beneath the surface of Texas is approximately equal to 163,000 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or roughly half a million times its annual electricity generation of 500 million megawatt hours in geothermal energy potential, though the authors cautioned the estimates are of energy content, not extractable energy.

Maryland Governor Signs Energy Storage Bill into Law, Sets 3,000 MW Target

May 11, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 11, 2023

Maryland Governor Wes Moore on May 8 signed into law a bill that establishes a 3,000-megawatt target for energy storage and requires the Maryland Public Service Commission to develop a cost-effective procurement program.

The measure, H.B. 910, calls for the PSC to establish targets for the cost-effective deployment of new energy storage devices in the state with a goal of achieving:

Ind. Utilities Should Reassess Plans for Gas-Fired Plants in Light of Energy Storage Benefits: Consultant

May 9, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 9, 2023

An analysis completed by Strategen Consulting concludes that Indiana investor-owned utilities should reconsider plans to construct new natural gas-fired combustion turbine plants given the confluence of factors that now make energy storage a competitive alternative.

In 2020 and 2021, three of Indiana’s investor-owned utilities, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Indiana Michigan Power Company and CenterPoint Energy Indiana proposed to build new natural gas-fired combustion turbine plants in their integrated resource plans.

Strategen said that “much has changed since then, justifying a reassessment of each of the utilities’ plans,” including:

Prepared for Advanced Energy United, the report finds that the IRA enables significant savings and makes battery storage with equivalent capacity more economical than each utility’s proposed CT.

In the year of deployment, battery storage would provide savings of $3.4 million for NIPSCO, $66.2 million in savings for I&M, and $3.5 million in savings for CenterPoint, before taking into account additional factors such as stranded assets and fuel price volatility risk, the consulting firm said. Savings in subsequent years are anticipated to be even greater.

The full report is available for download.

Predictive Software Could Help Integrate Renewables, Reduce Need for Storage

May 2, 2023

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
May 2, 2023

Predictive software could reduce the amount of energy storage needed to transition to a economy that includes growth in renewable energy, according to a new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The study, Shifting Demand: Reduction in Necessary Storage Capacity Through Tracking of Renewable Energy Generation, proposes an alternative approach to bridging the mismatch between peak demand and peak generation in an electric system that is increasingly relying on intermittent sources of generation, such as wind and solar power.

One solution to that problem is to store peak generation and dispatch it during times of peak demand using utility scale battery energy storage systems but, as an alternative, the study’s authors analyzed a means of shifting demand by using a forecast-aided predictive control algorithm.

While battery energy storage systems can improve dispatchability, the study’s authors noted that the technology has “several challenges,” including inadequate safety validation, degradation of the batteries and “most crucial,” cost of the systems. “Due to these challenges, it may be beneficial to limit the total BESS capacity required for deployment,” the authors wrote.

Alternatively, the use of forecast-aided predictive control can shift demand “considerably to more closely track” a renewable energy signal, the study found. “This significantly reduces the size of the required utility-scale BESS,” the authors said.

The study analyzed a forecast-aided predictive control algorithm that is used to autonomously control both electric vehicle charging stations and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in buildings.

Electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, along with heating and cooling systems for buildings, already account for roughly 10 and 40 percent of electric demand, respectively, and both are poised to increase with calls to decarbonize the economy. So, shifting demand for electric vehicles and buildings is “imperative” and provided the framework for the study, the authors said.

“We have an idea of how many people will be in the building, and then from there we can get an estimate of how many electric vehicles will be arriving at the charging station,” Dylan Wald, a graduate intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a Ph.D. student and lead author of the study, said in a statement. “Everything is intertwined, and we can leverage this interconnectedness.”

The study on forecast-aided predictive control was based on research the National Renewable Energy Laboratory did last year that showed electric vehicle charging and buildings can work together to provide services to the grid. The improved algorithm took that work a step further by including forecasts to improve real-time tracking ability by taking into account how much wind and solar power will be generated, as well as the temperature and time of day and week in order to estimate the energy demand for a building and charging stations, the study’s authors said.

The analysis indicated that under days of more intermittent renewable generation, forecast-aided predictive control performed adequately, however, the performance of the algorithm decreased during weekends when demand is less significant and less flexible. The analysis also found that the forecast-aided predictive control performance is sensitive to the accuracy of the forecasts incorporated in the algorithm.

“This work is showing us you don’t always need such a big battery,” Jennifer King, a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and co-author of the study, said in a statement. “You likely still need a smaller battery.”

“That’s a huge implication because we may run into supply chain issues with batteries needed for the grid or for EV charging. We need a different solution,” King said.

First Solar-Plus-Storage Project by a Municipality on Long Island is Completed

May 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 2, 2023

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on April 20 announced the completion of the first solar-plus-storage project by a municipality on Long Island, now operating in the Town of East Hampton.

The rooftop array makes the Parks Department building at the Town Hall campus the first building in the town to achieve the goal of net zero carbon emissions from electricity generation. The project, developed with the New York Power Authority, supports New York State’s goal to procure 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030, and the Town of East Hampton’s goal of community-wide renewable energy only in all sectors, also by 2030.

The 165-panel system is tied directly into the Long Island Power Authority’s distribution grid and will provide about 90 megawatt hours of energy annually.

The 75-kilowatt solar PV system will generate renewable energy and charge a 137-kilowatt hour battery. It is expected that 100 percent of the energy costs of the building will be offset with credits from the energy produced by the solar PV system. Any additional energy credits will be allocated to another building on the Town Hall campus.

The town, in collaboration with the Power Authority, selected New York-based Solar Liberty and its financing partner on the project, Inclusive Prosperity Capital, through a competitive process to develop the solar-plus-battery storage system. 

The solar PV system will be financed through a 20-year power purchase agreement with Inclusive Prosperity Capital, with no upfront costs to the town. A PPA also enables the Town to benefit from cost offsets provided by tax credits. 

The battery was added at no cost to the town through grant support from NYPA.

NYPA recommended the system’s installation as part of East Hampton’s ongoing efforts to move toward a 100 percent renewable energy goal. NYPA Distributed Energy Resource Advisory Services assisted as advisor throughout implementation.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has committed nearly $35,000 to the project through its Retail Energy Storage Program, which provides funding to commercial customers for standalone, grid-connected energy storage or systems paired with a new or existing clean on-site generation like solar.

LIPA and Energy Storage

For its part, LIPA has also pursued energy storage. LIPA previously installed a 10 megawatt storage project and in 2021 PSEG Long Island issued a request for proposals on behalf of LIPA for bulk energy storage.

Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Generation and Battery Storage Project Advances

April 20, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 20, 2023

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority recently provided an update on the Randolph Harley Power Plant New Generation Project, which includes the installation of four 9-megawatt Wartsila generators and a 9 MW battery energy storage system.

BESS, a key component of the Wartsila project that will aid in fortifying and creating additional redundancy for the Authority’s electrical grid, is now in the process of being integrated into the RHPP system.

The Wartsila project, which began in 2021 will be a major contributor towards providing more affordable and reliable power generation to the territory — specifically the Randolph Harley Power Plant, Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said.

The plant currently provides electrical generation to the island of St. Thomas, as well as Water Island and St. John by using underwater electrical cables that run for miles to distribute electricity.

The Wartsila generators feature state-of-the-art technology that enables them to operate efficiently, providing notable cost savings and with much less environmental impact than their diesel counterparts which will benefit the entire territory, the Authority said.

The Randolph Harley New Generation Project is completely funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Construction Nears on New Salt River Project Large-Scale Battery Storage Facility

April 13, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 13, 2023

Officials from Arizona public power utility Salt River Project, Plus Power LLC and the City of Avondale, Ariz., on April 12 gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off construction mobilization at a new large-scale battery facility.

The facility will store up to 250 megawatts, or 1,000 megawatt hours, and will be the largest standalone battery facility built in Arizona once online in 2024.

Storage from the project will serve SRP customers during times of peak electricity demand and facilitate the continued integration of renewable resources into the SRP power system, the utility noted.

srpone
Grant Smedley, Director of Resource Planning at SRP addresses the crowd at the Sierra Estrella groundbreaking.

The Sierra Estrella facility is one of two battery storage projects SRP announced in fall of 2022 with Plus Power, with both projects scheduled to come online by summer of 2024.

The other, a 90 MW, or 360 megawatt-hour, project called Superstition Energy Storage, will soon be built in Gilbert, Ariz.

These projects along with additional battery contracts that SRP has entered, will help SRP surpass 1,100 MW of battery storage by 2024, which is among the largest utility-scale battery investments in the Western U.S.

Sierra Estrella Energy Storage will utilize lithium-ion technology manufactured by Tesla. Plus Power will design, build, and operate the facility to updated national safety codes and standards for Battery Energy Storage Systems.

Plus Power is coordinating with the Avondale Fire Department to prepare a thorough emergency response plan for the facility. In the coming months the two organizations will conduct onsite training to ensure local first responders are engaged in safety planning throughout project construction and operation.  

SRP
Sierra Estrella Rendering

SRP said it will continue to develop and deploy evolving storage technologies safely and cost-effectively as part of the SRP’s commitment to reducing carbon intensity (from 2005 levels) by more than 65 percent by 2035 and 90 percent by 2050.  

SRP has also closed the largest coal plant in the Western U.S. and will have retired approximately 2,600 MW of coal-fired generation by 2032.

With these strategic resource additions and decisions, nearly half of all retail energy delivered to SRP customers will come from carbon-free resources by 2025.

California Community Choice Aggregator’s Board Approves Long-Duration Storage Project PPA

April 11, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 11, 2023

The Board of Directors for the Clean Power Alliance, a California community choice aggregator, has approved a 15-year power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy Resources for a 75-megawatt long-duration standalone energy storage project.

The project is located at NextEra’s Desert Sands Energy Storage facility in Riverside County, California. CPA will begin storing and discharging energy from the facility in June 2026.

The project marks CPA’s first executed contract incorporating eight-hour storage capabilities. CPA’s other battery storage projects incorporate four-hour battery technologies.

In June 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a decision requiring load-serving entities, such as CPA, to increase procurement to address mid-term reliability concerns. As a result of this decision, CPA was required to procure a total of 679 MW of new reliable capacity between 2023 and 2026, including 59 MW of long-duration storage by 2026.

Founded in 2017, CPA is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties.

U.S. Energy Storage Market Installed a Record 4.8 GW in 2022

March 19, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 19, 2023

Across all segments of the industry, the U.S. energy storage market installed 4.8 gigawatts of capacity in 2022, nearly equal to the combined 2020 and 2021 installed capacity of 5 GW, becoming a record year for battery storage, according to a new report from the American Clean Power Association and Wood Mackenzie.

According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, the market added 1,067 megawatts across all segments in the fourth quarter of 2022, making the quarter only the fifth highest for installations – 33% lower than Q4 of 2021, which is the highest on record.

The new report’s findings show that the U.S. grid-scale segment installed a total of 848 MW in Q4 2022, which was a decline from more than 1 GW of installations in both Q2 and Q3 of this year. Decreased installed capacity was largely caused by supply chain and interconnection constraints. These headwinds continued to affect the project pipeline, with over 3 GW of projects scheduled to come online in Q4 delayed or cancelled.

However, the residential storage segment increased by 11% over Q3 and broke another record with 171 MW installed, ousting Q3 2022 by 17 MW. Capacity installations increased for this segment every quarter in 2022, confirming sustained demand for residential back-up power and resiliency.

Deployment in the community, commercial, and industrial storage segment recovered from a significant drop in Q3 2022 with 48 MW installed in Q4, an increase of 78%. States traditionally strong in the CCI segment, such as New York, bounced back to higher deployment levels which boosted Q4 numbers.

“Despite a slow fourth quarter, total 2022 installations were still 44% over 2021. Grid-scale installations increased by 7% year-over-year, CCI by 3%, and residential experienced the strongest growth with installations up 36%.  Looking ahead, we expect the U.S. storage market to install almost 75 GW between 2023 and 2027. Grid-scale installations account for approximately 60 GW, 81% of the new capacity added,” said Vanessa Witte, senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s energy storage team.

Forecasted capacity for the grid-scale and CCI segments will more than double in 2023, partly due to robust storage demand and to projects that were delayed from 2022 coming online. Wood Mackenzie also expects residential capacity to increase by approximately 88% in 2023 – with four times more residential storage to be installed in 2027 compared to 2022 volumes.

“California continues to hold the largest market share of residential installations through 2027 at 47%, which dwarfs any other state by far. Puerto Rico remains the second largest through 2027 with an 11% share,” Witte said.

Project volume in the interconnection queue from 2023 to 2028 declined by approximately 10% from the last quarter; a result of independent system operators filtering through applications and developers withdrawing applications now that the rush to secure queue positions has somewhat subsided.

According to the report, 7 GW of projects with an original 2022 Commercial Operation Date have been pushed into later years or cancelled outright, likely due to increased costs or developers’ inability to procure equipment within the timeframe needed.

Price relief for batteries is on the horizon, as commodity prices have begun to decline after prices for battery precursors, such as lithium carbonate, peaked in Q4. System cost declines are anticipated in 2023 though other issues remain, such as supply delays and an increasingly tight labor market.

Western Electricity Coordinating Council Releases Long-Duration Storage Assessment

March 3, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 3, 2023

The Western Electricity Coordinating Council recently released a long-duration energy storage assessment that examines how, with 12-hour duration energy storage, an 80–90% clean energy future with high electrification load can be achieved and what effect this might have on the reliability of the bulk power system.

The purpose of the assessment was to determine whether long-duration energy storage systems mitigate challenges in reaching higher clean energy percentages, as identified in a 2040 clean energy scenarios assessment completed by WECC.

The clean energy scenarios assessment examined increasing clean energy and energy needs percentages provided by non-carbon-emitting resources in 2040 to 80, 90, and 100 percent.

The long-duration energy storage assessment initially sought to examine the impacts on the clean energy percentage of increasing energy storage duration — to 24, 48, 168, and 336 hours.

In WECC’s initial simulations, energy storage charging and discharging cycles for longer
than 24 hours were not used due to modeling options requiring use of static annual user defined
energy prices, thus resulting in lower than anticipated use of storage devices. Therefore, the study,
focused on if an 80-90% clean energy scenario, with load and generation balanced, can be achieved
with 12-hour duration energy storage, the report said.

The study explored the following reliability impacts on the Western Interconnection of these high clean energy scenarios:

The long-duration energy storage assessment produced a number of takeaways.

One takeaway is that energy storage systems with a 12-hour storage duration modeled over a 24-hour charging and discharging cycle can mitigate daily fluctuations in loads and resource availability.

Also, different modeling tools are needed to model charging and discharging cycles longer than 24
hours.

Another takeaway is that to achieve a 90% clean energy scenario, significant capacity addition was needed for both renewable and energy storage resources. Careful balance between renewables and storage is needed to achieve the desired clean energy targets.

Also, increasing storage and renewable energy capacity also increases the “spillage” of renewable
resources.

Other takeaways include:

Building on the current 2022 long-duration energy storage assessment, the report said that the following opportunities will increase the understanding of potential energy storage system benefits in 2023:

Click here for the full report.

WECC is a non-profit corporation that exists to assure a reliable bulk electric system in the geographic area known as the Western Interconnection.

WECC has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the Regional Entity for the Western Interconnection. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation delegated some of its authority to create, monitor, and enforce reliability standards to WECC through a delegation agreement.