Calif. utility inks largest U.S. battery purchase in history

Southern California Edison said late last week it had finalized what analysts called the nation’s largest-ever purchase of battery storage, as the state of California seeks to ramp up renewables and retire gas-fired plants in coming years. The new storage in Southern California tops the 590 MW contracted by NV Energy in Nevada last year, making it the largest single procurement in the United States, said Jason Burwen, vice president for policy at the Energy Storage Association. “This is the biggest single procurement of battery energy storage projects that we are aware of,” wrote Burwen in an email.

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DC Circuit grills NARUC, FERC on whether Order 841 will harm state ability to regulate distribution

A three judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit pressed counsel on Tuesday on whether or not Order 841, a landmark federal storage order, was encroaching on state authority over the distribution system. This article from Utility Dive quotes Jason Burwen, ESA’s VP of policy:

‘FERC’s counsel did an admirable job of laying out the importance of distributed energy storage access to wholesale markets, in line with FERC’s responsibility to ensure just and reasonable rates,’ Jason Burwen, vice president of policy for ESA told Utility Dive in an email. ‘We are cautiously optimistic that the questions focused by the D.C. Circuit on whether states could prove harm may be a signal that the Court is not inclined to vacate the Order​ … a reversal by the Court would cause significant disruption to electric system innovation and resilience provided by distributed storage.​’

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SunPower accesses $1 billion in residential solar and storage loan capital from Tech CU

Despite the pandemic, capital is still pouring into solar. SunPower just announced a $1 billion partnership with Tech CU that gives the solar panel efficiency leader access to a significant chunk of capital for its loan program. The new partnership provides financing opportunities for potential U.S. residential solar and storage customers.

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Southern California Edison Contracts Mammoth Energy Storage Portfolio to Replace California Gas Plants

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New Mexico delays 350 MW 240 MWh solar+storage projects intended to replace San Juan coal plant

New Mexico regulators on Wednesday voted to delay the decision on whether to approve two solar-plus-storage projects that the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) had planned to pursue as part of its replacement generation for its San Juan coal plant.

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Entergy gains OK for storage plus solar project

Entergy Arkansas announced Wednesday that it has gained approval to build the state’s largest utility-owned solar project in White County. The solar array in Searcy will produce 100 megawatts of solar power and have 10 megawatts of battery storage, which will help provide power on cloudy days.

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Hewa named to head executive advisory board for Energy Storage Associatio

A host of top-level leaders from across the power sector were named as executive officers for the U.S. Energy Storage Association. The ESA announced the elections of its executive committee offices as well as a new board appointment. These leaders will serve one-year terms.

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Wärtsilä is delivering a 70MW energy storage system in California to optimise renewable energy system performance and maximise ROI

The technology group Wärtsilä is finalising a 70MW energy storage and energy management system project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) energy market. The energy storage system will be paired with Wärtsilä GEMS platform to maximise system efficiencies and will add renewable power to the grid at times when it otherwise wouldn’t be available. The order was booked by Wärtsilä in late 2019 and the project will be finalised in mid-2020.

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U.S. Energy Storage Association Announces Executive Committee, Expands Leadership with New Board Member Appointment

The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA), the national trade association for the American energy storage industry, announced today the 2020-2021 election of its executive committee officers as well as a new board appointment. Each year, ESA holds elections among its members, and the resulting board of directors selects its new officers. The board of directors and its officers will support ESA in its mission to accelerate the widespread use of competitive and reliable energy storage systems across the nation.

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Ameresco report touts potential, challenges of flow batteries in military microgrid energy storage

Flow battery technology in energy storage could eventually replace or compete with diesel generation and lithium ion as part of a microgrid package but needs to improve on load reliability and cost-competitiveness. This conclusion ends a new report by renewables and energy efficiency firm Ameresco. The company is working with 2ndPath Energy on U.S. Department of Defense-funded research into vanadium redox flow (VRF) battery energy storage systems as an alternative for diesel generators (DG) in microgrid applications. Keep reading.