Stacey Kusters

Cubico Sustainable Investments has commenced operations at Delta’s Edge, a 135 MW solar PV project in Carroll County, Miss.

The project commenced commercial operations on Nov. 30 and will provide renewable energy to over 14,000 homes and businesses across the state, says the company.

The project has a 15-year PPA with wholesale utility Cooperative Energy, and successfully closed tax equity financing in August, supported by Raymond James and Monarch Private Capital.

Delta’s Edge is Cubico’s first operational project to be connected to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

“We are pleased to announce the successful commissioning of Delta’s Edge solar project, a significant milestone that fortifies the strong growth trajectory of our US business,” says Country Head’s Stacey Kusters. “With a long-term power purchase agreement in place with well-established local utility Cooperative Energy, this project exemplifies our commitment to advancing the renewable energy transition across the country and making a positive impact on local communities.”

Cubico currently has over 750 MW of operational renewable energy projects in the U.S. and over 1.4 GW across North America.

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Duke Energy confirmed the accuracy of the report in a statement given to Energy-Storage.news by company director of communications and public affairs Kaitlin Kirshner, who said Duke Energy did not believe the equipment itself posed a threat but that the system has been switched off until the matter is resolved.

According to Reuters, the decision was made following high-profile accusations by US lawmakers that CATL – the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of lithium-ion batteries – is directly funded and enjoys support from the Chinese Communist Party.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was among those to make the accusations, and at the beginning of December wrote a letter to the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding that the decision to install CATL battery units at Camp Lejeune be reversed.

“We write out of concern with regards to the installation of a battery and solar array by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-aligned Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as part of a new Battery Energy Storage System (BESS),” Rubio and colleagues wrote.

“A CCP-funded and supported firm should have no role or presence on a US military installation, especially one that trains US Marines for a potential conflict with China.”

Rubio also said other military installations should be checked for similar energy projects operated by CATL “or other CCP-affiliated companies”.

Accusations ‘false and misleading’, manufacturer CATL says

CATL, for its part, strongly refuted the allegations, publishing a statement last week (7 December). It described the accusations its batteries posed security threats as “false and misleading”.

“As a global technology company, CATL welcomes responsible discourse on important safety and security issues, and we take questions about our business seriously.”

The manufacturer said its US-based businesses and products do not collect, sell or share data, nor do they interact directly with critical infrastructure, such as the electric grid, noting that its products have passed US safety and security reviews to have entered the country’s market in the first place.

The story has echoes of the saga that has engulfed fellow Chinese technology company Huawei in its dealings in the US since 2019, with a ban on Huawei telecoms equipment sales upheld by US President Joe Biden in 2022.   

CATL said that its energy storage products sold in the US, which include battery cells to complete containerised or cabinet-based solutions, only contain “passive” devices, and don’t allow the manufacturer control over the product, nor do they collect, save or transfer data.

The company pointed out also that its products do not connect directly to the grid. CATL supplies batteries to system integrators to use in BESS projects. The system integrator will then in turn connect to the grid, and CATL noted that grid operators’ layers of protection for their networks would prohibit manufacturers such as it from interacting with the grid directly.

Finally, CATL noted that as a publicly-traded company, counting many high-profile Western entities among its investors, it has a fiduciary responsibility to advance interests of shareholders that include the likes of JP Morgan and UBS.

CATL was found earlier this year to hold a 37% share of global lithium battery sales by SNE Research, and while this is largely based on its supply to the electric vehicle (EV) market, the company has in place multi-year supply deals in the US for BESS projects with the likes of system integrator FlexGen (10GWh), developer HGP Storage (5GWh) and others.  

‘We welcome the ability to use American made batteries’

Duke Energy’s Kaitlin Kirshner told Energy-Storage.news that the installation at Camp Lejeune was designed “with security in mind” and that the CATL battery units were not connected to the Marine Corps Base’s network or other systems.

“These lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries act solely as an energy storage device and were connected to Duke Energy’s system with our robust network security and safeguards fully in place,” Kirshner said.

“Nevertheless, some concerns about this project have been raised, and Duke Energy disconnected these batteries as we work to address stakeholder and policymakers’ questions.”

Although the US government is looking to support its domestic battery manufacturing value chain, the country’s battery manufacturing capacity is a small fraction of China’s as yet.

“As an American energy company, we welcome the ability to use American manufactured batteries. Given the rapidly increasing demand for electricity, we support more domestic manufacturing to help expand energy resources in the United States and accelerate the energy transition,” Duke Energy’s Kaitlin Kirshner said.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 6th Energy Storage Summit USA, 19-20 March 2024 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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Christine Guhl-Sadovy

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has received more than 300 applications for the Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP), totaling more than 300 MW of new capacity.  

The Board opened the application window for the State’s new, permanent community solar program on November 15, with a 225 MW capacity block available for development for EY 2024, representing the first opportunity for developers to participate since establishing the CSEP.

“I am thrilled at the amount of interest we have received in the first year of our permanent community solar energy program, a major achievement for advancing our equitable clean energy transition,” says NJBPU president Christine Guhl-Sadovy. “Community solar allows those who live in low- and moderate-income communities or cannot otherwise access solar due to their location, to reap the benefits of renewable energy and save money on their bills.”

New community solar projects will be sited in all four major utility service territories, with this year’s program capacity supporting enough community solar projects to enroll about 30,000 New Jersey subscribers.

Since the governor and legislature created the Community Solar Pilot Program in 2018, the board has approved 150 projects totaling 243 MW of capacity. To date, 88 of those projects, totaling 130 MW, have reached commercial operation.

The CSEP permits community solar projects of no greater than 5 MW on rooftops, carports and canopies over impervious surfaces, contaminated sites, landfills and certain bodies of water such as water treatment reservoirs and dredge ponds. The board anticipates opening a second application period for at least an additional 225 MW in EY 2025, which begins on June 1.

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Dominion Energy Virginia’s largest battery storage facility to date is currently operational.

The Dry Bridge Battery Energy Storage System, located in Chesterfield County, can store up to 20 MW of electricity and is enough to power 5,000 homes for up to four hours, says the company. 

“Battery storage is an important part of our mission of delivering reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to our customers,” says Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. “As our battery storage fleet grows, it means we can continue adding more clean energy to the grid while delivering the reliability our customers expect.”

Completion of the Dry Bridge facility comes on the heels of other recent battery storage developments for Dominion. In August, the company broke ground on a 50 MW battery storage project at Dulles International Airport. As well, the company announced its battery storage pilot projects at Darbytown Power Station and Virginia State University in September, both aimed at discovering longer-duration alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries.

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Raghusimha Sudhakara

Con Edison customers are on pace to break last year’s solar installations record as the company continues efforts towards battery storage and electric vehicle charge points, according to its third quarter Clean Energy Update. 

Covering renewables adopted by customers in New York City and Westchester County, the most recent update’s key takeaways include:

Company customers have more than 554 MW of rooftop solar generating capacity, led geographically by Westchester.

Customers installed 36 MW of storage capacity during the third quarter and have currently completed 556 installations. 

Con Edison’s PowerReady program has supported more than 4,600 vehicle charge points since it began in 2020. This year, more than 1,900 points were installed, setting a new company record. 

Con Edison’s curbside charging demonstration project with New York City Department of Transportation and FLO, customers have plugged their EVs into curbside charging stations more than 110,000 times, delivering more than 2,400 MWh of driving energy. 

“Con Edison is committed to working with its customers and stakeholders to meet New York’s clean energy goals with the industry-leading reliability our customers expect and deserve,” says Con Edison’s Raghusimha Sudhakara. “We’re thrilled to see our customers embracing solar power, battery storage and EV chargers across our service territory.”

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Construction is scheduled to commence in Q1 next year, with both sites expected to be fully operational in Q1 2023, with a connection to SP Energy Network’s 33kV distribution network.

Both projects will help ENGIE towards its 10GW target of battery storage globally.

Canadian Solar’s e-Storage – previously CSI storage – is a subsidiary of the company’s manufacturing division, that launched it’s utility-scale energy storage product, SolBank in September 2022.

Renewable energy investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), also recently confirmed that SolBank will be the technology used for its 500MW/1,000MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Scotland.

See the full version of this article on Solar Power Portal.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 9th annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 21-22 February 2024. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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Key Capture Energy (KCE) announced in August that a search was on for a successor as Bishop looked to move on after seven-and-a-half years leading the company, with the present chief exec to stay on until an appointment was made.

The company yesterday (7 December) named Brian Hayes as the company’s new leader. Hayes’ most recent role is as executive VP of asset operations & transmission at EDP Renewables, managing more than 9,000MW of clean energy projects. Hayes steps into his role on 8 January 2024.

KCE develops grid-scale energy storage projects to own and operate, with most of its operational portfolio in Texas’ ERCOT market and a smaller number in New York. Founded in 2016 by Bishop with chief operating officer Dan Fitzgerald, the company was acquired by SK E&S, an energy subsidiary of South Korean technology and engineering conglomerate SK, in 2021.  

Energy-Storage.news spoke recently with outgoing CEO Jeff Bishop about the introduction of a 2,500MW energy storage deployment target in the US state of Michigan and how it represented the start of a broadening market opportunity for storage in the US Midwest.

Energy Vault gets bankability report for BESS product

Energy storage tech startup Energy Vault has received a bankability report on its battery energy storage system (BESS) solution B-VAULT, from certification and standards group DNV.

The company is perhaps best known for a novel gravity-based energy storage technology based on lifting and lowering massive composite blocks of a concrete-type material within a giant metal frame. However, while it has one large-scale gravity storage project in China nearing the end of construction, Energy Vault has turned to also delivering lithium-ion (Li-ion) BESS projects, as a system integrator.

That strategy appears to be paying off, bolstering Energy Vault’s financial results and giving it revenue streams – and perhaps access to prospective future customers – that other companies seeking to commercialise non-lithium energy storage technologies may not have.

DNV conducted a six month evaluation of B-VAULT, finding it to meet industry expectations on performance, safety and reliability. The technical review created will be useful to financiers of projects and customers, Energy Vault said.

The product can be integrated with battery cells of multiple different chemistries and capacities from a range of suppliers, has liquid cooling for battery racks and air-conditioning for temperature control in the enclosure and safety features designed to eliminate single point of failure.

Energy Vault also claims B-VAULT is unique in featuring DC-coupling options with an external inverter and AC-coupling with a modular inverter inside the BESS enclosure, making it readily configurable to both DC and AC applications, which was acknowledged in the DNV report.

Dominion Energy brings online company’s biggest BESS

US power company Dominion Energy has brought online a 20MW/80MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Virginia.

The largest BESS in Dominion’s portfolio to date, the Dry Bridge project is located in Virginia’s Chesterfield County. It was bought from developer East Point Energy and was procured following a Dominion clean energy Request for Proposals (RFP) held in 2020.

In 2021, when the utility included Dry Bridge in plans put forward to Virginia regulators, its scheduled online date was in 2022. Dry Bridge was the only standalone energy storage project proposed in Dominion’s 2021 plan.

The only other project that included energy storage in that proposal was for a combined solar-plus-storage project at Dulles International Airport, pairing 100MW of solar PV with 50MW of battery storage. Construction began on that project in August, as reported by Energy-Storage.news.

Dominion, which operates in a number of southern and eastern US states, has a big responsibility and imperative to rapidly scale-up its storage activities in Virginia: the state has a policy target for 3.1GW of energy storage by 2035, and with Dominion Energy Virginia one of the biggest utilities present, it has been tasked with delivering 2,700MW of that total.

So far it has only delivered 16MW of energy storage pilot projects as well as another project acquired from East Point Energy and the newest 20MW addition in Dry Bridge.

Dominion is also piloting the deployment at smaller scale of three non-lithium technologies designed for long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications, iron-air batteries from Form Energy, zinc hybrid cathode batteries from Eos Energy Enterprises, and nickel-hydrogen batteries from Enervenue. All three are US-based companies developing domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 6th Energy Storage Summit USA, 19-20 March 2024 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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Transgrid had already selected Hydrostor’s proposed LDES project as the most suitable of a range of options in May 2022, and this agreement marks a formalising of that process.

From ‘as early as 2027’, Hydrostor will need to provide 50MW of power capacity and 250MWh of energy storage from Silver City to the town of Broken Hill in the event of a planned or unplanned power outage.

Transgrid operates the high voltage electricity transmission network in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Hydrostor is working with mining company Perilya to build the project at the latter’s existing facilities near Broken Hill. Its total cost is pegged at AU$652 million (US$420 million).

The company is also developing a larger, 4GWh project in California, although this summer revealed it may need to find alternative sites for that one.

Organic flow battery company CMBlu working with US national labs

US national labs Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will undertake a demonstration project to validate the LDES technology of Germany-based organic flow battery firm CMBlu Energy.

The project was one of six selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of a lab call for LDES technologies in September.

It will aim to provide insights for microgrids and help to make electric vehicle (EV) charging more affordable in rural and underserved communities, and will take place at two locations.

Argonne researchers will test CMBlu’s Organic SolidFlow battery technology at its Smart Energy Plaza in Chicago, while INL researchers will test the tech at its INL Battery Test Center in Idaho.

Other project partners include trade body Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation, utility-funded research organisation Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), engineering consultancy Jensen Hughes, non-profit Drive Clean Indiana and utility National Grid.

Ørsted concludes ‘there is value’ in combining Highview’s liquid air LDES tech with offshore wind

Wind giant Ørsted and liquid air energy storage firm Highview Power have concluded that ‘there is value’ in combining offshore wind with the latter’s technology, following several months of joint investigation.

In April 2023, the pair started carrying out technical analysis and an economic assessment of the potential of combining Ørsted’s offshore wind assets – it is the largest operator in the world – with Highview’s liquid air-based LDES technology.

Announcing the conclusions of the work this week, a media statement said: ‘The results show that there is value to combining offshore wind with LAES (liquid air energy storage) to support reducing wind curtailment, increasing productivity, and helping the move to a more flexible, resilient zero carbon grid.’

‘Further, as a result of this study, the companies believe a project can be developed and built aligned with the timeline of an offshore wind farm.’

The companies have not given any firm dates or plans for a project, however.

Statkraft partners with saltwater flow battery firm Aquabattery at COP28

Norwegian state-owned energy firm Statkraft has partnered with Aquabattery, which has developed an LDES solution using salt and water-based flow battery technology.

Aquabattery’s technology is designed for discharge durations of 6 hours or more.

“We are very excited about this partnership. Aquabattery’s new technology is promising. It has the potential to accelerate and revolutionise the development of long duration energy storage. Without the right mix of energy storage in the system, we risk slowing the pace of wind and solar rollout, and consequently the green transition,” said Statkraft CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen. 

The two companies will develop a pilot project to test the technology in Delft, the Netherlands.

Energy Vault gets DNV’s bankability report for its BESS product

Energy Vault, the company known for its gravity-based LDES tech, has had its battery energy storage system (BESS) validated by global assurance and risk management provider DNV.

DNC has given Energy Vault’s B-VAULT BESS a comprehensive, successful due diligence evaluation. The report, six months of work, concluded that B-VAULT conforms to industry expectations for performance, safety and reliability.

Energy-Storage.news covered this announcement in more depth in a roundup of news from the short-duration energy storage market, also published today.

Energy Vault CEO Rob Piconi discussed the firm’s move into short-duration BESS technology in an interview earlier this year (Premium access).

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 9th annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 21-22 February 2024. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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In recognition of the vital role energy storage can play in integrated renewable energy and improving the stability of grids worldwide, the initiative aims to foster international cooperation and alignment of goals to boost the technology’s deployment and development.

It will aim to reduce the costs of energy storage tech and build a sustainable, transparent, diversified and responsible supply chain, Clean Energy Ministerial said.    

While the European Commission and Australia lead the new initiative, the US and Canada have also joined as participants. US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and her counterparts in Australia and Canada all offered statements in support of the Supercharging Battery Storage Initiative, as did EC vice president Maroš Šefčovič, who has led efforts at the European level to boost battery manufacturing.

“Battery storage— especially grid-scale storage—is an essential piece of the decarbonisation puzzle,” Granholm said, noting that for the US alone to reach net zero, between 1.5TW to 2.5TW of energy storage power capacity will be required, “plus up to tens of thousands of terawatt-hours in storage duration”.

“Battery storage will be the backbone of the green transition with an essential role to decarbonise transport and energy. It will enable a truly decentralised and integrated energy system based on efficient use and renewable generation,” Maroš Šefčovič said.

International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol said battery storage is becoming “increasingly important for the growth of clean electricity systems,” noting that the agency will be publishing a report on the topic next year.

According to IEA modelling, global battery storage deployments need to exceed 1TW by 2030 to stay in line with net zero policy pledges, representing an increase of around 23x the levels of deployments today.

The Clean Energy Ministerial initiative, seeking to engage governments, the private sector and civil society into cross-border collaboration, will provide “a roadmap for accelerated action” on promoting energy storage as a key sustainability technology.

In related news, 11 countries last week joined a new Battery Energy Storage System Consortium (BESS Consortium) announced at COP28. The BESS Consortium seeks to accelerate the deployment of battery storage in low- or middle-income countries, reducing energy poverty, improving access to electricity and enabling the growth of renewable energy. It is targeting an initial 5GW of BESS deployments.  

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Scott Williams

Frontwave Arena has inked a local partnership with Baker Electric on a solar project, and signed a PPA with DSD Renewables to utilize energy produced at the site.

Baker Electric will install a fully integrated 797.09 kW rooftop solar system consisting of 1,350 panels, along with a large-scale battery energy storage system. The project is anticipated to contribute approximately 1.2 MWh annually, the company says.

“We are focusing on excellence in every aspect of development: from sustainable design to fan experience, from technology to community engagement,” says Josh Elias, Frontwave Arena’s COO. “The solar installation is part of Frontwave Arena’s broader sustainability efforts to minimize the environmental impact of the arena.”

“Baker Electric is excited to partner and assist with the development of a local landmark like Frontwave Arena,” says Baker Electric’s Scott Williams. “We appreciate that not only are Josh and his team building a centerpiece of entertainment for the North County community, but they are not skipping any steps in consideration of the environmental impact of operating a facility of this size.”

The 7,500 capacity multi-purpose venue in North San Diego County is slated for completion next year. 

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