Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant (TMLP) has been awarded a $1.25 million grant as part of the Baker-Polito Administration’s Energy Storage Initiative (ESI) Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage (ACES) program, funded by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). TMLP received the grant to build a 1.5 MW battery storage system to be co-located with their existing 105 MW power plant and 1.5 MW of planned solar PV. This will assist in mitigating both capacity and transmission costs thereby providing savings for the rate payer. It also further enhances their ability to pursue a more reliable, clean, resilient and affordable energy portfolio.

“We thank the Baker-Polito Administration for their commitment to Clean Energy and for their consideration of TMLP with this outstanding grant award,” General Manager Ken Goulart said following the announcement. “We are especially thankful for the continuous efforts by Senate Pro Temp Marc Pacheco as the leader of the entire Senate in Climate Change and also in bringing money home locally. We are equally proud of our House of Representative delegation – Representatives Shaunna O’Connell, Patricia Haddad, Keiko Orrall and Angelo D’Emilia. Their assistance and outreach to the CEC and DOER has strengthened the partnership with TMLP and the residents and businesses in Taunton, Raynham, Berkley, North Dighton, and parts of Lakeville and Bridgewater. Our communities will be helping the Commonwealth move towards a Clean Energy future because of this outstanding program.”

A total of $20 million in energy storage grants awarded through the initiative will benefit 25 communities and draw in $32 million in matching funds, helping to grow the Commonwealth’s energy storage economy. The Baker Administration launched the Energy Storage Initiative in May 2015, with the goal of advancing the energy storage segment of the Massachusetts clean energy industry.

Fractal provided technical design, financial analysis and grant proposal preparation for TMLP. Fractal continues to provide RFP management and owner’s engineering and advisory services to ensure project success. “The goal of the grant was to stimulate design of scalable, duplicatable and cost-effective business models for Massachusetts utilities. TMLP has demonstrated an innovative battery storage project and a powerful strategy to reduce power supply costs related to transmission and capacity fees. The project will be co-located with their gas plant and planned community solar installation,” commented Judy McElroy, CEO of Fractal Energy Storage Consultants.

Fractal Energy Storage Consultants was selected as the primary energy storage consultant to support the energy storage system test bed for Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore and SP Group, a leading energy utility company in Asia Pacific.

Fractal initially provided CW Group Ltd. Pte. with technical design, financial analysis and proposal preparation, who was then contracted by EMA and SP Group to implement a 2.4 MW / 2.4 MWh battery energy storage system. CW Group is a one-stop precision engineering solutions provider and machine tool manufacturer and distributor, headquartered in Singapore and has production and sales and services operations in the PRC, Switzerland and Malaysia.

The energy storage capacity will support Singapore’s use of solar power by providing energy reserves and reducing peak demand. It will also assist EMA and SP Group to evaluate the performance of ESS technologies in the country’s hot and humid climate, its impact on the electricity grid, and to establish future guidelines for ESS deployments. Fractal also proposed an ancillary market redesign to remove barrier to storage adoption, encourage foreign investment and stimulate economic development.

“CW Group was already highly successful is so many arenas and wanted a quick transition into the energy storage market. It was a very synergistic move that aligned well with their existing successes in solar PV in Asia. We’re proud to assist them with this transition and to provide knowledge, tools and support. It’s what we do,” said Judy McElroy, CEO of Fractal Energy Storage Consultants.

Commenting on the project, Mr. Ng Wai Choong, CEO of EMA said; “Insights from this test bed will be useful for Singapore to learn how storage could enhance the stability of the grid, provide quick response capacity, and improve operational flexibility. We are also exploring how to couple energy storage with solar forecasting capabilities to enable greater deployment of solar in Singapore.” Singapore aims to have 1 GW of its electricity from solar power by 2020, thereby significantly reducing the country’s environmental foot print.

In January 2017, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) announced the award recipients for their New Technology Implementation Grant (NTIG) Program. Pedernales Electric Cooperative was awarded $1.5 million of the total $3.5 million of grant funds available for energy storage projects.

PEC proposed the Pedernales Energy Storage Automation & Management with Solar (PESAMS) project that will help the cooperative achieve a cleaner energy portfolio by implementing technology to reduce the emission of pollutants consistent with the objectives of the NTIG program while reducing energy and power supply-related costs. The PESAMS project integrates a blend of energy storage using a 2 MW-4 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system located near the newly installed Johnson City solar photovoltaic array.

The business model utilized by the PESAMS incorporates multiple storage services for integrating renewable resources to achieve maximum emission reduction while providing economic and operational benefits to PEC members.The objective of the PESAMS project is to demonstrate a cost-effective, reliable, duplicable and scalable system design that will achieve reduced emissions, reduced costs and increased operational efficiency.

The project is anticipated to be installed in Spring 2018 adjacent to PEC’s Johnson City substation. The project is estimated to have a 20 year life, which is in line with the photovoltaic array and balance of plant components.

Prior to the grant, Fractal performed an energy storage feasibility study for PEC to identify cost-effective business models for energy storage implementation. Fractal prepared the grant application for PEC, managed the RFP process and continues to provide owner’s engineering and advisory support to ensure project success.

“We’re excited to help PEC with their journey. PEC has the largest service territory of any distribution cooperative in the United States and it is diverse with many operational challenges. PEC is constantly pursing technologies and programs that will maintain low electricity rates for their members. Battery storage proved to be a highly economic mechanism for them to dramatically reduce power supply costs related to peak load and to increase reliability,” commented Judy McElroy, CEO of Fractal Energy Storage Consultants.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) have announced the award recipients for their New Technology Implementation Grant (NTIG) Program. The grant supports the implementation of new technologies that will reduce the emissions from facilities and other stationary sources in Texas. CPS Energy was successfully awarded $3 million of the total $3.5 million of grant funds available, which will kick off the Solar+Storage program.

The Solar+Storage project will help achieve a cleaner energy portfolio by implementing technology to reduce the emission of pollutants, consistent with the objectives of the NTIG program. The project integrates the most economically and technically viable blend of energy storage using a 5 MW – 2 Hour Lithium-ion system in conjunction with solar energy. The Solar+Storage project will be the largest energy storage system in Texas that shifts clean energy to peak demand periods. The project will be completed in 2018 and will be located within the CPS Energy service territory on the Southwest Research Institute campus.

The innovative Solar+Storage business model will incorporate multiple storage services for integrating renewable resources to achieve maximum emission reduction, while providing the greatest economic and operational benefits to the City of San Antonio, CPS Energy customers, and the ERCOT grid. The project will have a 20 year life, which matches well with the photo voltaic array and balance of plant components.

Prior to the grant, Fractal completed an energy storage feasibility study for CPS Energy. Fractal prepared the NTIG grant proposal, managed the RFP and continues supporting CPS Energy with owner’s engineering and advisory services to ensure project success. “They are so innovative, and leaders in renewable energy. As a vertically-integrated utility, they can monetize energy storage in so many ways and it compliments their aggressive efforts in demand reduction and renewable energy integration,” commented Judy McElroy, CEO of Fractal Energy Storage Consultants.

CPS Energy is the largest municipally-owned, vertically integrated electric and natural gas company in the United States. They are #1 in Texas for solar generation, 8th in the nation for installed solar power and among the largest municipal wind buyers in the nation with 1,059 MW of wind capacity.