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January 6, 2020

The Vital Role of Energy Storage, Energy By the Numbers

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    • Michigan EIBC President Laura Sherman on the Vital Role of Energy Storage 

     Energy storage is a transformative technology, and there are reasons to expect the use of storage in Michigan to grow in coming years, Michigan EIBC President Laura Sherman writes in Greentech Media.

    Storage has not unleashed its full potential in Michigan, but new rules are being crafted by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator to help storage compete in wholesale electricity markets in the Midwest, and there is a growing recognition that storage is a necessary component of state and utility-level planning for reliability and resiliency.

    In addition, Gov. Whitmer’s MI Power Grid Initiative could create a “new, holistic approach to treat energy as a complete system,” which “if properly implemented, can allow utilities to fully realize storage’s potential,” Sherman writes in the article.   

    Advanced Energy by the Numbers

    Welcome to 2020, a year that holds great promise for innovation in Michigan’s energy sector. To get inspired for the year ahead, here are some of the highlights of the stunning progress that renewable energy, efficiency, storage, EVs and other advanced energy sectors have made and are poised to make. 
    Renewables

    -Solar and wind are on track to make up 50% of world electricity by 2050, as projected by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

    -Over two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries where the cheapest source of new electricity generation is wind or solar (or both), also according to BNEF.

    -Wood Mackenzie’s fourth quarter 2019 report found that at 45.5 gigawatts, there is more utility-scale PV solar under development than ever before.

    -U.S. residential solar will grow somewhere from 8% to 18% in each of 2020 and 2021, according to Wood Mackenzie. 

    -There is still potential for an additional 10,000 gigawatts of onshore wind in the U.S. – about ten times current wind capacity – according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The offshore wind potential is over 2,000 gigawatts.

    Storage

    -The total capacity of the U.S. energy storage market is set to grow by more than 12 times from 2019 through 2024, Wood Mackenzie found.

    -The levelized cost of battery storage has been falling so quickly that by the middle of this decade battery storage will be the most cost-competitive form of peaking generation, according to BNEF.

    EVs

    -BNEF expects EVs to be at price parity with internal combustion vehicles by the mid-2020s.

    -The U.S. accounts for about 22% of EVs on roads around the globe, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). 

    -The number of global charging points rose 44% in 2018, with 90% of those coming from built by the private sector, also according to IEA.   

    Michigan Energy News

    • Michigan Radio covers the administrative law judge’s criticisms of DTE’s integrated resource plan.
    • The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) looks back on an “extraordinary” 2019.
    • Michigan’s dams, some of which supply hydropower, are facing aging-related problems.

    National Energy News

    • New steel plants are striking deals with wind farms in order to rely on zero-emissions energy.
    • The North American Electric Reliability Corporation says that the grid across the U.S. and parts of Canada must prepare for 330 GW of new wind and solar capacity coming online through 2029.
    • Revenue from using EVs to service the grid will climb to $1.4 billion by 2030, according to a new report from Navigant Research.

    National Energy Events

    Infocast’s Wind Power Finance & Investment Summit is in San Diego from Feb. 4 to Feb. 6, 2020.

    Opportunities

     The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service is seeking applications for its Rural Energy for America Program, which makes loan guarantees and grants available for renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, energy audits and more. The deadlines to apply for renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvement grants are Oct. 31, 2019, and March 31, 2020, while applications for loan guarantees are accepted year-round. Find out more here.

    The Michigan Energy Office’s Small Manufacturers Energy Waste Reduction Incentive Pilot is offering rebates of up to $15,000 per company for small manufacturers that can implement energy efficiency activities between Oct. 1, 2019 and July 31, 2020. There is a 100% minimum match requirement. Click here to learn more about eligibility and apply.