Redox flow energy storage systems, earmarked by Navigant Research to be one of the fastest growing electrochemical storage technology sets over the next decade, are being deployed in recent or upcoming projects by Cellcube Energy Storage Systems and Redflow.

Cellcube is the continuation of the line of energy storage systems dubbed VFB (‘vanadium flow battery’) and produced originally by Gildemeister Energy Storage. The German company’s VFB assets were acquired by Canada’s Stina Resources Group and the company changed its name to Cellcube Energy Storage Systems.

As previously noted, taking on a product with a history of testing early market appetite for long duration storage systems, Cellcube is targeting a level of vertical integration in its supply chain. Earlier this month the company also acquired Pure Vanadium Corp, a research and technology company licensed to produce vanadium electrolytes.

Last Monday, Cellcube announced the delivery of its first energy storage system in Germany, followed two days later by the announcement of an installation in New York. This morning, the company also said it has delivered a system to the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

EnerPrax (‘Energy storage in practice’) is a proof of concept project in Germany, conducted by municipal utility Gelsenwasser at Saerbeck Bioenergy Park, a Smart City pilot. The site will test an unspecified number of Cellcube energy storage systems supplied through Cellcube’s local subsidiary Enerox. They will act as eight-hour storage units to provide baseload energy, stabilising the grid and shifting energy production to meet demand.

The arrival of a VFB at the University of Calgary this week is in order to advance research in vanadium and vanadium electrolyte production. In a recent interview, Navigant Research analyst Ian McClenny said that while flow energy storage is expected to grow its share of the stationary storage market significantly over the next 10 years, improvements in components and raw materials are still desirable. Cellcube said in a release that the electrolyte is typically around 30% to 40% of the total cost of the battery.

In New York, two Cellcube systems are being installed at the offices of electric power line contractor O’Connell Electric. Again, while sizing of the units was not disclosed, Cellcube said the batteries will be integrated into a solar-plus-storage microgrid that could lower onsite electricity costs by as much as 40%.

Because renewable energy supplies in the Middle East are intermittent, viable storage solutions are needed in the region to ensure long-term success and broad adoption. The Middle East has set robust sustainable energy goals, so battery storage is the next step to increase reliability of energy supply and infuse the ability to store excess energy when demand for power is low. Batteries also reduce carbon dioxide emissions and can respond nearly instantaneously to increased grid demand, unlike fossil-fuel plants, which can take up to a few hours to reach peak. Battery storage technologies in the Middle East can enable widespread integration of renewables, unlock grid flexibility, and bolster grid reliability.

The upward trend of renewables has brought unlikely bedfellows to alternative energy discussions. Particularly, the falling costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) power has ushered in a new era in which countries are increasing their renewable commitments to the Paris Agreement reached at COP21. Middle East countries, too, are beginning to diversify their energy sources, which seems contradictory to a region that is one of the world’s leading oil and gas producers. Yet the Middle East’s oil producers have set ambitious targets to add solar and wind capacities to their power mix in order to free up more crude for export. Specifically, the UAE aims to produce nearly half of its electricity through renewables by 2050, while Saudi Vision 2030 includes a target of 9.5 gigawatts by 2050. Battery storage will be a crucial element toward this regional shift to renewables.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, will tender around 3.25 Gigawatts of solar projects and around 800MW of wind this year, as it looks to produce 9.5GW of power through renewable sources by 2023. The UAE, the second-biggest Arabian Gulf economy, currently derives around 98% of its energy needs from gas. It has set a target to meet 44% of its energy needs from renewables, 38% from gas, 12% from fossil fuels, and the remainder from nuclear sources.

Why Battery Storage is Essential to a Middle East Shift to Renewables

Renewable energy sources like the sun and wind are affected by location, weather, and time of day. Thus, renewable energy generation creates a variable supply of energy. That’s where battery storage comes in.

The electricity grid is a complex system in which power supply and demand must be equal at any given moment. Constant adjustments to the supply are needed for predictable changes in demand, such as the daily patterns of human activity as well as unexpected changes from equipment overloads and storms. Energy storage plays an important role in this balancing act and helps to create a more flexible and reliable grid system. When used for energy storage, batteries can be located nearly anywhere convenient for distribution, such as a battery facility located near consumers to provide power stability, or end-use, like batteries in electric vehicles.

California’s carbon emissions are down 13 percent from their peak in 2004, according to new data released this week by the California Air Resources Board. You can thank Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Back when the Predator and Jingle All the Way star was California’s governor in 2006, he signed into law State Assembly Bill 32, requiring that the state reign in its greenhouse gas emissions back to their 1990 levels by 2020.

Based on the new analysis by the state’s Air Resources Board, California succeeded in that target back in 2016: the total for carbon emissions in 1990 was about 431 million metric tons, and it’s come back down to 429 million metric tons in 2016.

Schwarzenegger suggested on Twitter, Wednesday, that other states should follow their lead.

The next step, according to a statement from California’s current governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr., “is for California to cut emissions below 1990 levels by 2030 — a heroic and very ambitious goal.”

Specifically, the state is shooting to reduce emissions to below 40 percent of their 1990 levels by 2030 — as mandated by a more recent piece of legislation, Senate Bill 32, signed into law in September of 2016.

Their plan for making these reductions has always been complicated — very, very multi-pronged affair. In addition to a typical carbon-tax and a Cap-and-Trade Program, the state has its Renewables Portfolio Standard, the Advanced Clean Cars Program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and other super-specific and highly targeted programs: the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Strategy, the Sustainable Communities Strategy and the Sustainable Freight Action Plan, etc.

There’s clearly been some notable successes from all these: Thanks to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, for example, a record number of vehicles in the state run on biofuels, totalling 1.5 billion gallons-worth in 2016. And incentive programs have grown the solar electricity sector by 33 percent in 2016. But, some independent policy makers are skeptical of the dent all this effort is actually making.

Star-shaped gold nanoparticles, coated with a semiconductor, can produce hydrogen from water over four times more efficiently than other methods — opening the door to improved storage of solar energy and other advances that could boost renewable energy use and combat climate change, according to Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers.

BOSTON — Clean energy storage could get a boost under grid resiliency legislation approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Thursday.

Among other things, H.4739 instructs the Department of Energy Resources to study the feasibility of mobile battery storage systems. Such systems could take the place of downed substations in an emergency, said Rep. Thomas A. Golden Jr., D-Middlesex, chairman of the Joint Committee on Energy, Telecommunications, and Energy.

Around 450,000 households lost power during coastal storms in March, Golden said from the floor, highlighting the need for Massachusetts to “move into the future.”

Energy storage can shave peak power demand, relieve congestion on the grid, save money, and help reduce emissions, Golden said.

The House bill creates an Energy Storage Innovation Research Institute, and establishes a Center for Clean Transportation to conduct research and development.

On the resiliency side, it creates new requirements for utilities to assess and improve their transmission and distribution systems.

The utilities would have to submit annual reports including “heat maps” that show areas of load and congestion on the grid. Additionally, they would be urged to solicit competitive bids for “non-wires alternatives” — such as storage or demand response — when their lines need upgrades.

Grid resiliency means hardening regional power systems in the face of extreme weather or natural disasters, and such efforts must focus on “prevention, survivability, and recovery,” according to the Electric Power Research Institute.

The Baker administration in December awarded $20 million to help kick-start energy storage in Massachusetts.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst received one of the largest awards, $1.14 million, to install a lithium ion battery system in its energy supply system. Separately, Holyoke Gas & Electric built the state’s largest utility-scale storage system at its Mount Tom Solar plant.

Nationwide, the energy storage industry hopes to deploy 35 gigawatts of capacity by 2035.

Falling solar panel prices coupled with favorable national and state policies are giving energy storage technologies the jolt they need to electrify the market place. The latest such example is Pacific Gas & Electric that wants to install four battery projects totaling 2,270 megawatts.

Energy storage could be anything from shaving peak load to storing and injecting wind and solar electrons onto the grid.

“Energy storage plays an increasingly important role in California’s clean energy future, and while it has been a part of PG&E’s power mix for decades – starting with the Helms Pumped Storage Plant in the 1980’s – recent decreases in battery prices are enabling energy storage to become a competitive alternative to traditional solutions,” said Roy Kuga, vice president, grid integration and innovation, PG&E, in a release. 

“As a result, we believe that battery energy storage will be even more significant in enhancing overall grid reliability, integrating renewables, and helping customers save energy and money,” he added.

If the projects are approved by the California Public Utility Commission, the first of them will come online in 2019 while the others would follow a year later. California’s Independent System Operator is incorporating energy storage into mix of generation assets, as PG&E Corp., Sempra Energy and Edison International must collectively buy 1,325 megawatts of energy storage by 2020.

As for Pacific Gas & Electric, it would be replacing three natural gas-fired power plants owned by Calpine Corp. The utility picked three projects: 1,540 megawatts, 385.5 megawatts and 182.5 megawatts. It would also own one such project by itself, totaling 750 megawatts. The 1,540 project would be owned by Texas-based Vistra Energy and run by its Dynergy Marketing and Trade, which is different from the utility company Dynegy.

The Possibilities

The Brattle Group issued a study earlier this year that said energy storage markets could grow to as much as 50,000 megawatts over a decade if cost continue to fall and if federal policies that promoting the technology take root. Those policies must also be matched at the state level, it says.

Halfway through 2018 and large-scale battery storage in the UK has reached over 450MW installed capacity, with around 250MW being completed this year alone. This is made up of projects bigger than 1MW, including larger behind-the-meter projects that have begun to emerge.

The past few weeks have seen a flurry of activity with supply contracts being awarded, projects changing hands as well as those being completed. With sites under construction from the likes of Centrica, Anesco and Ørsted, and when projects from UK Power Reserve recently awarded to Fluence are factored in, it seems very like that the capacity installed in 2018 could reach over 500MW.

Uncertainty continues from the top

The challenge in financing energy storage is getting someone else to own it. Cost and availability of financing, in general, are directly tied to risk. The ample amount of capital looking to invest in energy looks for proven and simple. Storage is neither. Utilities’ defensive tariff filings are spurring market interest in the technology, but financing is still looking at it with lab coats on, and some people feel it will be that way for a long time.

Any analysis of battery economics starts with the problem needing a storage solution. Financing options unfold from there. Each of the numerous ways to use batteries calls for different hardware characteristics and properties, for specialized energy management systems (EMS) software, for engineering configurations and other considerations that impact the value received. Once those variables are established, then their performance must be modeled against the displaced utility power. If the model does not “pencil,” then available alternative tariffs must be researched against which to operate the storage.

Leading modeling company Energy Toolbase offers 30,000 rate schedules in the United States to help developers make sense of a battery application. None of that guarantees anything.

“Estimating the savings of an energy storage project is typically based on the historical interval usage data of customer,” Energy Toolbase’s COO Adam Gerza said. “But it’s challenging for developers to accurately model storage savings over the 10, 15 or 20-year term of the project, because utility rate tariffs constantly change, as does the shape of the customer’s load profile.”

None of this leads to eager third-party financiers.

Users and vendors are assuming the risks.

For those reasons, most C&I energy storage projects currently being built are funded by the user or the manufacturer. An end-user has all the standard options available for infrastructure upgrades: cash, credit or commercial PACE (C-PACE). As a C-PACE financing specialist, I arrange funding for a large number of solar/storage deals; hundreds of millions of dollars are eager to commit. For property owners it is the fastest and easiest way to get long-term capital, if they qualify. But C-PACE underwriting does not factor issues such as the IRS’ “75% cliff,” or whether the battery management system is proven over 15 years, or if the battery specs are bankable. C-PACE makes no commitment to a project’s success, beyond qualifying the contractor or EPC as being credible and compliant. The risk burden for the eventual viability of the installation rests primarily on the property owner.

Fortunately, some manufacturers are also doing their best to fill the void of third-party financing. Big and small industry names are financing their own product and engineered solutions. Energport, for example, sells designed and engineered systems using the batteries of Chinese manufacturer Gotion (Guoxin). According to its U.S. director of sales, Bobbie Muñoz, Energport offers five-year C&I leases for which the host’s monthly payment is 50% of the actualized savings, whatever they are, with a buy-out option at end of term. They also offer a ten-year, 70% version, with a $2 million project cost ceiling on those leases.

Socomec has won the Electrical Energy Storage prize at The Smarter E Europe exhibition held last month in Munich.

The exhibition hosts nearly 3,000 exhibitors presenting their latest solar energy solutions to 50,000 visitors.

The Electrical Energy Storage (EES) award recognises pioneering products and solutions for electrical energy storage systems. To select the winner, the jury considers the entire value-added chain of the technologies proposed, as well as the concrete applications and business models chosen.

The products and solutions candidates for the Award must demonstrate a particular technological and economic innovation, allowing the reduction of production or sales costs and that meet industrial or societal needs.

Energy storage for remote sites

This year Socomec proposed its energy storage system for microgrids, in particular the SUNSYS PCS2 IM converter. The solution provides electricity to a remote area while reducing the cost of building a new electrical grid. The system manages everything: power converters, batteries, energy sources… Designed for hybrid microgrids, the Socomec storage system is ideal for the electrification of rural or island areas. Among the many innovations proposed, Socomec stands out for its solution able to supply an isolated site completely autonomously thanks to renewable energies and energy storage.

A dedicated business unit for energy storage

“Socomec’s expertise in the control of low voltage energy conversion has been decisive in the development of energy storage solutions,” says Thierry Leroy, Director of the new Energy Storage Solutions Business Unit.

“The experience gained during the European Nice Grid and Nice Smart Valley pilot projects has enabled us to develop reliable and competitive storage solutions. This has led to the creation of a new entity within the Socomec Group dedicated to energy storage to enable us to control our development in a rapidly growing market.”

Delta has debuted its Battery Energy Storage Skid (BESS) Solution for industrial and commercial applications, as well as upgrades to its residential energy product portfolio, at Intersolar North America 2018. Delta’s pre-engineered BESS is a fully integrated battery storage system with PCS scalable from 125 kW to 500 kW, energy storage up to 2 MWh, and capable of adapting to the various energy, power and performance requirements of commercial energy users, including peak shaving, optimized load management, self-consumption and optimization of renewable energy sources. For the residential sector, Delta’s energy storage solution brings together the company’s leading E-series inverters along with top-of-the-line batteries to create an all-in-one turnkey solution that can be installed seamlessly in as few as 15 minutes.

“The shift to greater reliance on renewable energy, in combination with growing applications for battery power and microgrid-compatible solutions, has made power consumption more complex and dynamic than ever,” said M.S. Huang, president of Delta Electronics (Americas). “It’s critical that energy users have the infrastructure in place to adapt to long-term trends, and fluctuating daily energy demands, easily and quickly. Our BESS helps to fulfill this need for the industrial and commercial sectors, providing customers with an end-to-end solution, while our residential products continue to empower homeowners to take control of their energy consumption.”

Battery Energy Storage Skid Solution

Flexible in its design and able to scale up to a capacity of PCS 500 kW/ESS 2 MWh, Delta’s BESS provides an ideal solution for various power, capacity and cycle life needs. Developed for outdoor applications, the system is rugged and durable, with a compact and modular skid-mounted design based on industry standards for cabinet solutions. The format ensures that this investment is protected against harsh environmental conditions and continues to operate at maximum performance even in extreme temperatures.

The solution offers a variety of application advantages for users, including optimization of self-consumption from renewable and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. With Delta’s BESS, users can also capitalize on a range of grid services, including frequency regulation, renewables smoothing and power quality improvement, as well as facilitate demand charge management and time-of-use optimization. For those integrating electric vehicle (EV) charging stations into their facilities, Delta’s BESS can also provide charge management. Additionally, the solution can serve as a backup power supply, ensuring continuous operation in the event of grid power outages.