Wet’n’Wild Hawaii and energy storage firm Stem Inc., flipped the switch to activate a customer-sited energy storage system in Hawaii, supported by Hawaii’s Energy Excelerator, the Hawaiian Electric Co. and the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative.
The Wet’N’Wild system—108 kW / 216 kWh—is part of a three-year pilot to deploy electric storage systems at about 30 local businesses on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island, using Stem’s storage solution to help improve reliable electric service for customers of utilities with high levels of rooftop solar and other distributed energy resources. The project will be part of the U.S. DOE SunShot Initiative’s “Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV (SHINES) to demonstrate visibility and control of edge-of-network resources.
With its robust software platform, supported by real-time data and predictive analytics, Stem will work to better integrate energy storage at customer sites to help customers manage their loads and provide the Hawaiian ElectricCompanies with grid responsive resources. For the first time, grid operators will be able to see and manage customer-sited resources, including energy storage, alongside conventional generation resources from their existing control platforms.
“We follow the sun. Our hours of operation are specifically during peak times for sunlight, so this project is very attractive for us,” said Jerry Pupillo, Wet’n’Wild Hawaii general manager. “The batteries will kick in to decrease that peak usage spike we have always battled. This makes dollars and sense for us as a business as our peak use determines the rate we pay. Big picture: this could help the utility avoid building another power plant because with battery storage our electricity use can be more precise and controlled to help manage the grid.”
“Hawaiian Electric is very happy to partner with Wet’n’Wild in our distributed energy storage pilot with Stem,” said Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric vice president for corporate planning and business development. “With this ‘behind-the-meter’ storage at our customers’ sites, we can help them manage how they use energy with technologies that have dual value, saving participating customers money and improving grid reliability and efficiency for all our customers.”
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