San Diego Zoo Global has chosen a unit of EDF Renewables North America to provide a 1 MW/4 MWh energy storage system that is designed to reduce energy costs while limiting emissions at the zoo.
The zoo will use the storage project to smooth spikes in energy usage, thereby, lowering demand charges. The system will also minimize energy costs by recharging the battery when wholesale electricity prices are low and discharging power to the zoo when costs are high.
EDF Renewables North America Distributed Solutions structured the 12-year contract for the energy storage system as a shared savings agreement.
“We operate the battery and split the savings achieved based on performance,” said Michael Robinson, senior business development manager at EDF Renewables.
EDF also financed and installed the storage project.
The zoo used a $1 million rebate from the Center for Sustainable Energy to help cover project costs. Savings achieved from the system will pay for the project on an ongoing basis, said Adam Ringler, director of performance improvement at San Diego Zoo Global.
The zoo is a direct access customer, which means it buys its power at wholesale rates directly from the California Independent System Operator. The only rates it pays to the utility are demand charges. The energy storage system, which is expected to enter service in May or July 2019, avoids demand charges by cutting the zoo’s energy use during periods of peak demand. The storage system will also be used for some energy arbitrage by taking advantage of wholesale power price volatility.
The energy storage project is one of the larger investments in the zoo’s sustainability program and its “first foray into potential new technology we might deploy going forward,” Ringler said. “We have to see what the results are.”
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