Why Are Storage Firms Selling Their Project Portfolios?

on September 11, 2017

energy storage greentech mediaExperts are asking whether project portfolio sell-offs by Amber Kinetics and Powin Energy represent a new trend.

Last month, Flywheel maker Amber Kinetics said it was giving up on a 20-megawatt project, Energy Nuevo, for Pacific Gas and Electric in California.

“The company’s new five-year strategic plan calls for an acceleration of equipment deployment and a de-emphasis on project development,” said Amber Kinetics in a press release.

Ed Chiao, co-founder and CEO, said the money earmarked for project development would now be spent on commercializing a new product, the 40-kilowatt, 160-kilowatt-hour M160, which is due for testing in the first quarter of 2018.

“Energy Nuevo would have required almost $10 million in security deposits and development costs,” Chiao said in the statement. “When we compared investing a similar amount in bringing the M160 to market on schedule, and focusing on generating greater near-term revenue, we chose to prioritize commercialization over project development.”

Portland, Oregon-based Powin Energy has since revealed it is selling its entire project portfolio, comprising around 100 megawatt-hours of energy storage assets, as a precursor to refinancing and refocusing on product development.

“We will be looking to strengthen our finances once we’ve moved these assets,” said Jan Jacobson, vice president of business development, in an interview. “We’re selling everything.”

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GreenTech MediaWhy Are Storage Firms Selling Their Project Portfolios?

Graphene-MoS2 Hybrid Material for Energy Storage and Transfer Applications

on September 11, 2017

AZO-CleanTech energy storageTo meet the increasing energy demands of a growing population, not only are new ways of creating the energy being devised, but so are new ways of storing this energy, and a team of Researchers from India have developed a hybrid nanomaterial composed of graphene and flower-shaped MoS2 nanostructures to store energy in a prototype supercapacitor.

As a result of an ever-expanding population and its associated energy consumption, there is a projection that the demand for energy in 2050 will exceed 40 terawatts (TW). Because of the requirements for a high amount of energy, new ways of producing renewable energy are being researched and implemented, as current non-renewable fuels will eventually run out.

Due to both the energy increase and nature of the produced energy, new materials are also being developed that can store this energy efficiently.

At present, such storage capabilities are not close to meeting the energy demands set out in future predictions. Current devices can only store 1% of renewable energy that storage devices do for fossil fuels.

As such, there is a great need to not only create materials which can store renewable energy, but to also produce materials with a real-world function that can rival non-renewable storage options, potentially as a variant of Li-ion and Na-air batteries that can hold renewable-produced energy.

The team of Researchers have created a hybrid nanomaterial composed of flower-like MoS2 nanostructures and 3D graphene heterostructures to be used as an active material in energy storage and transfer devices. The Researchers also tested and employed the material in a solid-state supercapacitor, where the 3D graphene-MoS2 material was used with a graphite current collector.

To create the active material, the Researchers first created MoS2 nanospheres through a hydrothermal method using ammonium molybdate and thiourea. A modified hydrothermal method was then utilized to deposit 3D graphene oxide onto a graphite electrode using a series of wet synthetic steps.

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AZO CleanTechGraphene-MoS2 Hybrid Material for Energy Storage and Transfer Applications

Hurricane Harvey Devastation Shows Why Grid Resiliency is Critical

on September 9, 2017

While the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the West’s wildfires are fresh in our minds, it’s critical to start focusing on grid resiliency — and how distributed energy can contribute to it.

Utilities and state regulators right now focus more on grid reliability than grid resiliency, said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage Association (ESA). But the two are very different.

“Reliability is about normal operations and the grid being able to run with scheduled down times of generation and scheduled operations and maintenance — to be able to count on it when you’ve scheduled it,” she said.

Resilience is all about being able to withstand or recover from the unplanned

Resilience, on the other hand, is all about being able to withstand or recover from the unplanned—the hurricanes, storms and wildfires we’re experiencing more often and with more intensity right now. “Everything that is non-planned has to do with resilience,” she said. Surprise disturbances also include cyber and other attacks on the grid, she said.

Resilience is needed during these “extraordinary and hazardous catastrophes utterly unlike the blue sky days during which utilities typically operate,” said a 2014 report by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, “Resilience for Black Sky Days.” The report suggests that state regulators consider investments in resilience.

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Microgrid KnowledgeHurricane Harvey Devastation Shows Why Grid Resiliency is Critical

The Energy Storage Revolution Needs an Energy Market Evolution

on September 8, 2017

energy storage greentech mediaThere’s a difference between knowing why energy storage is so useful to integrating wind and solar power into the grid, and being able to prove it to a banker. They’re going to want to know all the details in between, such as: Has anyone ever been paid for performing these tasks? If so, how much? And can we get that price in a 10-year contract? 

To be sure, we’ve seen hundreds of megawatts of energy storage bankrolled through utility contracts, as in California, or to serve once-lucrative frequency regulation services, as in the territory of mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM. 

But the structures aren’t quite there yet for energy storage to provide the bankable revenue streams that wind and solar project financial backers need to make deals — even if the desire for them is peaking

“The reality is that storage hasn’t been widely financed yet, and we’re still several years away,” Ravina Advani, managing director of BNP Paribas’ power and infrastructure project finance group, said during a webinar on merchant power trends held Wednesday by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “Financing with a renewal asset,” on the other hand, “I think is something the market hasn’t yet seen — but it’s an up-and-coming trend.”

Wednesday’s storage discussion came during a broader overview of merchant power industry trends, from the latest BNEF data on global clean energy investments, to forecasts on solar industry impacts from the Suniva trade case.

But for renewables, the key long-term market trends are the shift from state renewable portfolio standards, power-purchase agreements and renewable energy credits as key drivers, to a world in which corporate investors, community choice aggregators and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) are playing a larger role, said Steve Doyon, CEO of Novatus Energy. Energy storage “could help renewables transition to that type of market.”

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GreenTech MediaThe Energy Storage Revolution Needs an Energy Market Evolution

The Future of Electrical Energy Storage Solutions – No Lithium Supremacy

on September 8, 2017

the-huffington-postThe global market for electrical energy storage is dynamic, urgent and at nearly a gigawatt, rapidly growing. The world is experiencing a surge in intermittent power generation facilities such as renewables, but great challenges remain.

Renewables facilities, for instance, require ever-more backup capacity. In addition, utility companies have to balance demand and supply by building up huge reserves the like of which have never been seen before.

Moreover, regulators are introducing new rules; energy bidding is becoming more sophisticated and electrical energy prices more volatile. On top of this, electrical grid stability and frequency control are far more complicated than in the past.

Currently, there is great hype about the capabilities of lithium batteries. The main application where lithium excels is mobility, due to its good power density and relatively small size. Major companies such as Tesla, LG and BYD advocate this technology as the best and brightest solution for global electrical energy storage needs. Many believe that lithium will become the new oil and some countries, like China, are heavily subsidizing the industry in order to gain political leverage and market share.

Lithium batteries, however, are not the magical one-solution-fits-all for energy storage requirements. Indeed, lithium has recently experienced a significant drop in price, and huge over-production capacities have been built up. Driving this downward trend are above all Tesla, which is building a “Giga Factory” in Nevada, and China, which actively plans to increase lithium battery manufacturing.

But despite the hype from these major players, the fact is that lithium has many downsides compared, for example, to flow batteries and other emerging battery technologies. The extensively covered cases of exploding Samsung smartphones caused by their lithium batteries have raised grave safety and reliability concerns.

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The Huffington PostThe Future of Electrical Energy Storage Solutions – No Lithium Supremacy

A Record-Breaking Quarter for America’s Behind-the-Meter Energy Storage Market

on September 8, 2017

energy storage greentech mediaIn the second quarter of 2017, 443 residential and commercial energy systems were deployed across the United States, representing 32 megawatt-hours of capacity.

According to GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association’s (ESA) U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, this is the most grid-interactive behind-the-meter energy storage ever deployed in a single quarter.

Much of the residential growth resulted from projects in California and Hawaii. In particular, 71 percent of Hawaii’s second quarter deployments came directly from the Customer Self-Supply program, which is seeing an increase in activity after several quarters of sluggishness.

“California held the lead in behind-the-meter deployments as the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) queue continues to clear,” said Brett Simon, an energy storage analyst at GTM Research, and one of the report’s authors.

“Toward the end of this year, we expect to see more SGIP-related deployment activity as the first deployments from the modified program, which opened in May, start to be interconnected. Furthermore, we expect to see greater growth from California’s residential segment in the next few years given the residential carve-out under the latest version of SGIP and changes to TOU rates for solar customers.”

 

Led by deployments in California and New York, the non-residential market, which includes commercial, industrial, religious, military, and non-profit behind-the-meter deployments, rose to 27.3 megawatt-hours in Q2 2017, growing 151 percent over the first quarter of 2017.

“New York experienced an uptick in non-residential deployments this quarter, though challenges around lithium-ion system permitting in New York City have slowed the market despite a massive opportunity identified by developers,” Simon added.

The front-of-meter segment — which typically represents the bulk of deployments — fell after two consecutive quarters in which more than 200 megawatt-hours were deployed. There were 18.5 megawatt-hours deployed this past quarter. Most of the Aliso Canyon projects came on-line in prior quarters, and concluding the entire expedited obligation set by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Despite the down quarter for the segment, several states including Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and Virginia made progress on policies and proceedings that encourage utilities to accommodate storage in distribution planning and renewable integration efforts.

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GreenTech MediaA Record-Breaking Quarter for America’s Behind-the-Meter Energy Storage Market

Wind turbine manufacturers are dipping toes into energy storage projects

on September 7, 2017

arstechnicaDanish company Vestas Wind Systems is one of the biggest makers of wind turbines in the world, recently surpassing GE’s market share in the US. But as the wind industry becomes more competitive, Vestas appears to be looking for ways to solidify its lead by offering something different. Now, the company says it’s looking into building wind turbines with battery storage onsite.

According to a Bloomberg report, Vestas is working on 10 projects that will add storage to wind installations, and Tesla is collaborating on at least one of those projects. Vestas says the cooperation between the two companies isn’t a formal partnership, and Tesla hasn’t commented on the nature of its work with Vestas. But the efforts to combine wind turbines with battery storage offer a glimpse into how the wind industry might change in the future.

The news about Vestas is just one datapoint in a summer of news about wind and storage projects. In August, offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind announced that it would pair a 144MW offshore wind farm planned for the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts, with a 40MWh battery storage system from Tesla. Construction on that project is set to end sometime in 2022. According to GreenTechMedia, Spanish wind power company Acciona recently connected two Samsung lithium-ion batteries to a 3-megawatt turbine in Spain, Dong installed a battery on the UK coastline in June to store some offshore wind energy, and Statoil will include a 1MWh lithium-ion battery in its designs for a floating offshore wind farm that will be completed in late 2018.

The idea of onsite batteries isn’t new—GE’s renewables arm introduced short-term batteries integrated with wind turbines in 2013, and Vestas itself experimented with tying storage to wind turbines in 2012. But turbine manufacturers seem to be more willing to branch out of their wheelhouse lately and contact battery specialists instead of pushing to build batteries on their own.

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Ars TechnicaWind turbine manufacturers are dipping toes into energy storage projects

Market Leader AES Energy Storage Projects Strong Future Growth

on September 7, 2017

forbesIn early August, I spent three days at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego. One key take-away was from the keynote delivered by Ronald Nichols, President of Southern California Electric. At one point he flatly asserted that for every utility represented by an attendee in the crowd, there is a viable and cost-effective storage opportunity somewhere on their grid today. That is a revolutionary statement, and something that would have surprised most industry observers just a few years ago.

However, that statement probably would not have surprised the leaders of AES Energy Storage. Those of us with long memories will recall that AES has been delivering utility-scale storage projects for over a decade, with projects deployed, under construction or in development in seven countries. The company currently boasts the largest lithium-ion battery-based energy storage project in the world (30 megawatts and 120 megawatthours) – built in partnership with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), to help meet peak electricity demand within its service territory in southern California. AES Energy Storage also indicates it has delivered over four million megawatt-hours of service to date. No other competitor in the battery storage space has a track record remotely close to that.

Given its heft in the market, AES Energy Storage is still surprisingly small, consisting of approximately 70 core team employees who focus on the development of storage solutions platforms. AES sells its Advancion energy storage platform and related services to multiple customers, including utilities and regional business units of the AES Corporation (AES Energy Storage’s parent company) in 17 countries, utilities like SDG&E and Arizona Public Service, and other entities who undertake power project development.

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ForbesMarket Leader AES Energy Storage Projects Strong Future Growth

Big Energy Backs Hydrogen Power Storage

on September 7, 2017

bloombergThe secret to switching the global energy system entirely to renewables may lay in the universe’s most abundant substance.

Hydrogen has drawn backing from big energy companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Uniper SE in addition to carmakers BMW AG and Audi AG. They’re supporting research into how the element can be used to store energy for weeks or even months beyond what lithium-ion batteries can manage.

While industry’s investment in hydrogen is small at just $2.5 billion over the last decade, the work offers an answer to the elusive question of how electricity could be kept for use in the future. Batteries increasingly are shifting power from day to night, but they tend to go flat after a few weeks. Hydrogen can be kept indefinitely in tanks. That would allow, for example, voltage collected from solar panels in the summer to be used in winter.

“The years 2020 to 2030 will be for hydrogen what the 1990s were for solar and wind,” said Pierre-Etienne Franc and vice president of advanced business and technologies at the French industrial gas maker Air Liquide SA and initiative secretary of the Hydrogen Council, a trade group promoting the work. “It’s a real strategic shift.”

The technology to use hydrogen as energy storage is well known, although not yet demonstrated in a commercial setting.

Excess power from wind or photovoltaics would drive electrolysis, separating water into its component hydrogen and oxygen elements. The hydrogen captured by that process could, whenever needed, feed natural gas power plants or fuel cells to make electricity. Industrial plants like oil refineries can also use hydrogen for chemical processes.

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BloombergBig Energy Backs Hydrogen Power Storage

Grand opening held for Kodak’s New York energy storage advancement centre

on September 6, 2017

Energy Storage NewsKodak, the tech company best known for producing photographic film and imaging equipment, has inaugurated the Kodak Cell Assembly Center, a new facility aimed at accelerating development and scale-up of advanced batteries for energy storage.   

A grand opening was held at the centre, which is at Eastman Business Park, Rochester, New York. The event was attended by officials from Kodak, formally trading as Eastman Kodak Company, with local and state representatives.

Also in attendance were representatives from New York’s public benefit economic development group, Empire State Development Corporation, which through a grant has funded US$1.2 million of the centre’s total cost of around US$5.9 million. The centre’s launch was announced at the beginning of this year.

Empire State Development CEO and Commissioner Howard Zimsky said the Assembly Center “further establishes New York as a world-class hub for energy storage and technology”.

Collaboration with NY BEST and DNV GL

Kodak has collaborated with trade group and technical development association NY BEST on the creation of the battery centre. NY BEST, in addition to being a trade association advocating for the views of its stakeholder members across the industry, is also heavily involved in technology commercialisation initiatives and has its own battery testing facilities.

Previously, the group has hailed the efforts of New York and in particular the administration of Governor Cuomo, who initiated New York REV, a wide-ranging grid modernisation and clean energy transition plan for the state. In a 2015 interview, NY BEST chief William Acker said REV (‘Reforming the Energy Vision’) could be a “valuable lesson” for the rest of the world, while the trade group has said that the state needs 2GW of multi-hour energy storage by 2025 and 4GW by 2030 to achieve its renewable energy target of 50% renewables by the latter of those two years.

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Energy Storage NewsGrand opening held for Kodak’s New York energy storage advancement centre