U.S. energy storage market reached second-highest quarterly deployment ever in Q2 2020

Topped only by the fourth quarter of the last year, the U.S. energy storage sector deployed 168 MW in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA).

“We are encouraged by the growth the energy storage market has seen this quarter,” Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA, said. “Despite any setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, the market for energy storage is poised to see significant growth in 2020. Looking out to future growth, we are confident that our expanded vision of 100 GW of new energy storage by 2030 is entirely reasonable and attainable, pushing us closer to reaching a more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable electric grid.”

Read More

As Residential Solar Deployments Fell, the US Home Battery Market Powered On

Even the COVID-19 pandemic could not stop the residential storage market from growing in the second quarter, according to the new Energy Storage Monitor.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into free fall this spring, the energy storage industry delivered its second-best quarter ever in terms of megawatts installed. Despite social-distancing orders, more customers than ever before added batteries in their homes to store solar power and provide backup power amid hurricanes, wildfires and other types of grid outages. Residential storage companies installed 48.7 megawatts/112 megawatt-hours in Q2, up 10 percent from the previous quarter, according to the new Energy Storage Monitor report released Thursday by Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association. That marks the fifth consecutive quarterly deployment record for residential storage, something that larger battery segments have never achieved.

Read More

Duke Energy contracts Wärtsilä for three battery storage facilities

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction contract from Duke Energy for three battery storage facilities in the US. In North Carolina, Duke Energy’s Asheville (8.8MW) and Hot Springs (4MW/4MWh) facilities will receive battery storage facilities under the contract. These are part of the company’s $2bn grid modernisation programme in western North Carolina. The third energy storage facility is Duke Energy’s Crane project, located in Indiana. All three storage project sites are expected to be commissioned during 2020 and 2021.

Read More

Power move by NYPA has energy battery project starting in Franklin County - Standard Freeholder

One of the largest energy battery storage projects in the U.S. will have construction starting soon and be in service early next year just 50 kilometres southeast of Cornwall.

NY Power Authority has announced the start of construction, in the Chateaugay area of Franklin County, a 20-megawatt energy batter storage project that will help alleviate transmission constraints and advance Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s clean energy target of 3,000 megawatts – the equivalent of 40 per cent of the homes in the state – of energy storage by 2030.

Read More

ESA Vision: 100 GW of New Energy Storage in 10 Years

The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) has set a goal of deploying 100 gigawatts of new energy storage in the country by the end of 2030. The materialization of this ambitious plan would also produce 200,000 new jobs throughout the period, which is a roughly threefold increase from current levels. The plan is detailed in a paper named 100×30: Enabling the Clean Power Transformation.

Read More

U.S. Energy Storage Association Corporate Responsibility Initiative Task Force Issues New Guidelines for End of Life, Recycling of Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems

The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) today announced that its Corporate Responsibility Initiative (CRI) Task Force has published Guidelines for End of Life and Recycling of Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems. This new resource outlines how to plan for end-of-life management of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries from decommissioned energy storage systems (ESS) in an environmentally sustainable way.

“The expansive growth of energy storage comes with an increased responsibility that we are committed to meeting through our industry-led CRI Task Force,” said ESA CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman. “The CRI Task Force recognizes the environmental responsibility that the industry holds in the production, use, and disposal of battery systems. This set of guidelines aims to address the oncoming industry-wide challenges in the face of rapid growth, and ultimately, end of life of these systems. We’re proud to support the industry leaders contributing to responsible end-of-life management practices.”

Read More

Going beyond Order 841 to more meaningful FERC storage policy

Contributed article from Sean Bauer, engineering manager for ESA Member GlidePath. 

More than two years after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order 841, its last major legal hurdle was recently settled by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court affirmed that FERC has ultimate say over even small-scale storage on the distribution system if that storage is participating in wholesale markets. At the same time, various markets are finally implementing the changes required under the order, enabling energy storage resources (ESR) to provide services that they’re technically capable of providing.

Read More

'All round success' for Texas' biggest battery storage system so far | Energy Storage News

The largest battery storage system online so far in the US state of Texas has been proven an “all round success” by an independent auditor, a year and a half after it went into commercial operation. The Upton County battery storage project, a 10MW / 42MWh system installed and commissioned by system integrator FlexGen is at the site of the 180MW Upton 2 solar farm owned by Vistra Energy’s developer subsidiary Luminant.

Read More

US energy storage market sets Q2 record for deployments

According to Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association’s (ESA) latest ‘US Energy Storage Monitor’ report, 168 MW were deployed in Q2 2020. This is an increase of 72% quarter-over-quarter, 117% year-over-year and is the second-highest quarterly total ever seen, falling just behind Q4 2019 (186.4 MW).

One large front-of-meter (FTM) project coming partially online in California, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total FTM MW deployed, helped to drive this level of quarterly activity. The large-scale system puts California back on the map after a quiet 2019 and, according to the report, the state is expected to remain there over the next six quarters.

The US FTM market grew more than fourfold compared to Q1. Deployments notched their fifth-best quarterly total (89.8 MW) and the largest Q2 on record.

Another record quarter for residential storage deployments, which increased 28% YoY, illustrates that California and Hawaii successfully kept installations progressing through coronavirus lockdowns.

“We are encouraged by the growth the energy storage market has seen this quarter,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA. “Despite any setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, the market for energy storage is poised to see significant growth in 2020. Looking out to future growth, we are confident that our expanded vision of 100 GW of new energy storage by 2030 is entirely reasonable and attainable, pushing us closer to reaching a more resilient, efficient, sustainable and affordable electric grid.”

Read More

Recycling, end-of-life and safe transport of batteries under spotlight in US, EU initiatives

Guidelines for what should happen to lithium-ion battery storage systems at the end of their lifetime have been launched in the US by the national Energy Storage Association. Part of the association’s Corporate Responsibility Initiative (CRI), a taskforce made up of energy storage company representatives issued the guidelines just before the end of August. The document encourages the consideration of the costs and options for recycling and end-of-life management at the very beginning of project development.

Read More