This storage newsletter was published on June 8, 2018.

Legislators and Industry Leaders Talk Energy Storage at IEI Lunch & Learn Event

On Wednesday, June 6, the Institute for Energy Innovation (IEI) hosted an Energy Storage 101 Lunch & Learn event for legislators and legislative staff in Lansing. The event, with over 50 attendees, featured panel presentations from Ray Hohenstein of Michigan EIBC member company Fluence, Carmine Pizzurro of Michigan EIBC member company eCAMION, and Kate Howling of Michigan EIBC member company Invenergy.

Liesl Clark, president of Michigan EIBC and IEI, gave opening remarks and an overview of energy storage. Then, Ray Hohenstein provided a deeper dive into energy storage technology and explained the benefits of storage.

“Storage generates no emissions, needs no water, and needs no fuel,” Hohenstein said.

Up next, Carmine Pizzurro discussed how distributed energy storage can be used in cities to provide power during times of peak demand and reduce stress on the grid. Pizzurro also pointed to applications of energy storage in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. He described an eCAMION project along the Trans-Canada highway, in which batteries are being installed at the interface between the grid and fast EV chargers to prevent stress on the grid. The corridor is the largest one-time deployment of fast charging infrastructure in North America, and eCAMION is currently working to come up with similar projects in Michigan.

 

Finally, Kate Howling explained how energy storage can be used along with  renewable energy to save customers money and improve grid reliability. She described the ability of energy storage to provide frequency response services, improving grid reliability. This is especially important for commercial and industrial customersfor whom fluctuations in the grid can mean significant lost time and production. Additionally, Howling explained, energy storage technology can help utilities provide energy when demand is at its peak and cut down on the use of expensive peaker plants.

This event was the third installment of IEI’s Energy 101 Lunch & Learn series for legislators. IEI will host a Mobility 101 Lunch & Learn on September 12 and a Corporate Purchasers 101 Lunch & Learn on December 5.

Member Highlight: Commonwealth Associates Announces Energy Storage Project 

Michigan EIBC member company Commonwealth Associates is partnering Doosan GridTech on Consumers Energy’s Parkview energy storage project, which will be deployed at the Colony Farm substation in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The project will have a capacity of one megawatt, which is enough energy to power 1,000 homes for an hour.

As the engineering partner, Commonwealth Associates will be providing foundation design and ground grid analysis for the project. Commonwealth will also design the interconnection work between various BESS components including the lithium ion battery skid, the power conversion system skid, metering and protective relays, and design the interconnection between the BESS and Consumers Energy’s distribution network.

“Our innovative engineering expertise are being put to work to deliver the one of the first battery storage systems for Consumers Energy,” said Jack McCormick, Commonwealth’s Project Manager.

Storage Newsclips

In Michigan

• On May 24, Michigan EIBC member company Invenergy’s Nicole Luckey testified in the Senate Energy and Technology Committee in favor of Senate Resolution 170, which would encourage the Michigan Agency for Energy to study how energy storage can provide value to Michigan consumers based and address the feasibility of energy storage in Michigan, including services energy storage can provide that are not being performed currently, the economic potential or impact of energy storage deployment in Michigan, and the identification of existing policies and recommended policy changes that may be considered to address a statewide coordinated energy storage policy.
• On May 30, the SR 170 was adopted by the Senate.

From Washington

• A group of energy industry associations including energy efficiency and storage issued a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s plan to bail out coal and nuclear plants across the country.

Across the Country

• New research finds that batteries with 6 to 8 hours of capacity can meet peaks in electricity demand.
• A Voxopinion piece by David Roberts says that microgrids offer the potential for a greener, more reliable, and more resilient electricity grid.
• California regulators approved a San Diego utility’s plan to add five new battery storage projects, which is enough to power 55,000 homes for about four hours.
• New York City is moving to streamline permitting for energy storage projects.
• With net-metering off the table in many states, lawmakers are working on new rate designs to promote solar-plus-storage growth.
• Big companies like Target are embracing on-site solar-plus-storage to save money and earn brownie points with local communities.
• Longer duration batteries could help wind-plus-storage projects take off.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted at a possible gigawatt-hour-scale energy storage project in a recent earnings call.
• Tesla has installed a gigawatt-hour of energy storage worldwide since 2015.
• Michigan EIBC member Renewable Energy Systems (RES) was honored at the Energy Storage Association’s 18^thAnnual Energy Storage Conference. Congrats!

Events to Watch:

On July 17-19, PlugVolt will be hosting its next Battery Seminar in Plymouth, Michigan (USA), featuring an entire day of in-depth training by EnerDelon Lithium Ion technology, alongside complementary industry updates by automotive and grid storage OEMs, global battery manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers. Attendees also get a tour of Intertek’s Battery Testing Center. Register here.