Rendering of the Salvador Battery Energy Storage Project in Chile’s portion of the Atacama desert. Image: (Rendering Credit: Mitsubishi Power) (CNW Group/Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.)

Thoughts from a trio of energy storage technology providers and system integrators on the year just gone, and what lies in store in 2023 (no pun intended).

Our respondents in this edition are all vying to gain a foothold in key battery storage markets around the world, but understandably with a primary focus on North America’s booming opportunities.

However, as you’ll see from their responses, even within the North American market, opportunities are spreading from the existing energy storage market strongholds of Texas and California to other US states, to Canada.

And there is of course plenty going on outside the North American market too, as the global need for energy storage is becoming widely recognised.

It’s fair to say our three interviewees come from companies at quite different stages of their journey into that global market.

Mitsubishi Power Americas is involved in major large-scale battery storage projects with recent project contract awards in regions including the south-eastern US and Chile.

The company’s battery storage solution, called Emerald, is based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology, but Mitsubishi Power Americas is involved with a broad range of other technologies, including working on what could be the largest green hydrogen storage facility in the US, the ACES project in Utah. 

LS Energy Solutions, backed by South Korean conglomerate LS Group, began deliveries of its first containerised battery energy storage system (BESS) units last year, after LS Group acquired the grid-tied energy storage division of inverter maker Parker Hannifin in 2018.

IHI Terrasun is a system integrator working on some of the largest solar-plus-storage projects in the US, such as developer Primergy Solar’s US$1.9 billion Gemini Solar-plus-Storage plant in Nevada. Gemini will include 1.4GWh of batteries, with cells to be supplied by CATL, alongside 690MWac/966MWdc of solar PV.

What did 2022 mean for your energy storage business, and how did it compare with the year before that?

2022 exceeded our expectations in many ways. We went through a wave of commissioning 1.5GWh of projects in California and Texas, which are historically robust markets for battery storage. The year has also seen a transition to other markets in the Eastern US and emerging market opportunities in Canada, Latin America, and Western Europe.

We started the year mostly focused on US-based project opportunities and the anticipation of a US$3 billion to US$4 billion market. That has quickly evolved into a more global view of opportunities across Canada, Western Europe, Latin America, and the US with an estimated US$9 billion market outlook over the next two years.

Overall, it was a strong year not only for Mitsubishi Power but the energy storage industry as a whole.

Tom Cornell, Senior VP of energy storage, Mitsubishi Power Americas

For LS Energy Solutions (LS-ES), 2022 was the year of product fine-tuning and getting into the big league of energy storage system integration.

LS-ES launched its all-in-one (AiON) energy storage solution in the fall of 2021 and spent 2022 certifying our AiON energy and power series, as well as taking the all-in-one concept to our customers. We ended the year with six awarded projects and installation underway on three of them.

Ravi Manghani, director of strategy and analytics, LS Energy Solutions

2022 has been a year of tremendous growth, both for the industry and IHI Terrasun. With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the need for storage has skyrocketed and that is amplifying an already increasing and expanding market. This hot market keeps getting hotter.

The war in Ukraine has further illustrated that energy independence – both regional and national – is essential for a stable and sustainable economy. And that has also increased the need for energy storage worldwide.

We’re seeing increases both in the size of projects – to the orders of magnitude to what we saw only two years ago, but also the frequency of new projects being developed. This year has seen a notable increase in the speed of the energy transition with the strong boost to climate and energy funding provided by the IRA.

Ray Saka, VP sales, product management and services, IHI Terrasun

What were some of the biggest gains and steps forward made by the industry, including your company, during the last 12 months?

One of the biggest steps forward we have seen as an industry is the increased confidence and adoption in battery energy storage outside of the mature markets in the United States, including California and Texas. Mitsubishi Power is seeing this within our business with the projects awarded in the Southeast United States and Chile.

As more battery energy storage assets are successfully commissioned and continue to meet customer expectations, it is resulting in more confidence and understanding of the many roles battery energy storage has in the energy landscape as a generation and transmission asset.

The passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US will be the next catalyst for energy storage and propel the market forward.

Tom Cornell, Senior VP of energy storage, Mitsubishi Power Americas

Any mention of 2022 has to include the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. For the first time, standalone energy storage will enjoy tax credit incentives similar to other renewable technologies. The industry deserved a pat on the back for never stopping to advocate for [the] storage ITC.

The timing couldn’t have been better as there’s a massive opportunity in front of us to decarbonise the power grid and storage will have a key role to play in getting there.

Another big gain, which truly still has to materialise is the recognition that for the US energy storage market to prosper, the country will also need to advance as a manufacturing hub for strategic energy storage components such as batteries and inverters.

On the topic of manufacturing incentives, LS Energy Solutions supports the inclusion of inverters for advanced manufacturing credits and has requested the Treasury to go one step further to explicitly include storage inverters for those benefits.

Outside of IRA becoming law, other noteworthy gains and steps have been in the area of interconnection reform, as FERC, as well as a few ISOs under its jurisdiction, have started on the path of streamlining of interconnection rules that will enable deployment of the massive backlog of solar, wind and storage assets.

Ravi Manghani, director of strategy and analytics, LS Energy Solutions

This year, IHI Terrasun launched our next generation power plant software for control, advanced diagnostic and monitoring of storage and solar-plus-storage systems. This solution allows for vendor-agnostic integration as well as augmentation and long-term power plant maintenance. We’ve built an analytical system for monitoring and diagnostic of assets, so we’re able to provide bankable 10- and 20-year long-term service agreements (LTSAs), and at times even longer, such as the work we’ll be doing for the Gemini Solar and Storage project in Nevada.

The biggest step forward for the industry, and one that is long overdue, is the development of diversified supply chains for batteries. The world will have so much demand as we electrify everything from cars to mobile phones, all of which will need batteries.

So far, battery production has been centred in China with very few limited options outside. With the IRA, there is now ample incentive for US-based manufacturing of batteries, and we hope to see those incentives adopted around the world to create a truly diverse supply chain.

Ray Saka, VP sales, product management and services, IHI Terrasun

Rendering of Gemini project aerial view issued in 2019. Image: Primergy/Quinbrook.

Well underway, the Gemini Solar and Storage project in Nevada will include 1,400MWh of battery storage. Image: Quinbrook.

The industry faced some well-documented challenges during the year, with the highest profile being supply chain constraints. How have those challenges affected the industry and how should they be confronted?

The challenges affecting battery storage and solar projects have been a huge topic this year. These challenges affected not only the supply but also costs related to projects forcing our independent power customers to renegotiate their power purchase agreements (PPAs). Despite the challenges, the impacts have mostly resulted in project delays instead of outright projects being cancelled.

The height of the supply chain challenges will be an inflection point in our industry along with the IRA as we evaluate our supply models and as the industry looks to diversify the supply chain across multiple continents.

Tom Cornell, Senior VP of energy storage, Mitsubishi Power Americas

For the US to truly see the fruits of accelerated renewable deployments, including storage, a lot of manufacturing will have to be onshored and re-shored.

Without a clear roadmap for such, the industry is destined to face the pains of extended delivery times, higher costs, and trade policy-related uncertainties. For instance, we saw lead times of 60-70 weeks on transformers and lead times of similar scale on other components needed to integrate storage solutions.

In addition to these delays, the industry has also had to open to alternate suppliers, and in general, expand the universe of suppliers to mitigate availability constraints. While a diversity of suppliers is generally good for competition, it has also opened up the need for robust quality control.

Ravi Manghani, director of strategy and analytics, LS Energy Solutions

Source diversification is the best solution to bottlenecks and constraints. Right now, China is effectively the only lithium refiner in the world. That must change if we are to succeed in creating a robust supply chain and enable worldwide manufacturing of Lithium-ion-based batteries.

We have also seen promising development of non-lithium technologies such as sodium and zinc-based energy storage systems, which also hold promise in diversifying the supply chain. 

Another important topic that does not get enough attention is the shortage of skilled labour in the electrical fields from master electricians to electrical engineers who are going to be needed over the next 30 years to achieve the transition to renewable energy.

More skilled workers retire every year than enter the profession, so there is already a shortage. Add to that the growing demand of renewable energy transition and the country will be unable to meet our climate targets in 2030.

This is a great opportunity to train and invest in our young adults who could secure well-paying jobs for decades to come. To meet the need, we must invest in outreach, workforce training and retraining, and mentoring. Plenty of great work is already being done to address this problem, but it will need to be significantly scaled if we want to build the solar, wind, and storage installations that will power our lives in 2030, 2040 and beyond.

Ray Saka, VP sales, product management and services, IHI Terrasun

Which technology and industry trends would you recommend our readers keep a close eye on in 2023?

There are several trends around energy storage people should keep a close eye on in 2023:

The improvement in lithium-Ion cell technology that currently exists. We are typically deploying 280 amp hour (Ah) cells and are moving toward over 300Ah cells, which will improve Lithium Ion’s density and more cost effective.

Developments in other cell chemistries including Sodium-ion as more R&D investment is placed in it

Longer duration storage in the 8-hour and above range through some demonstration projects using flow and nickel hydrogen-based technologies

Tom Cornell, Senior VP of energy storage, Mitsubishi Power Americas

At the risk of sounding a pessimist, 2023 in many ways will look a lot like 2022 in terms of battery costs and supply tightness. 2022 is primed to end with lithium carbonate prices at an all-time high and while the larger economy is slowing down after a year of high inflation, I suspect that the prices in 2023 will be a bit stickier in the energy storage world. There are certainly some promising trends to look out for, such as higher energy density products from several LFP suppliers, and further commercial advancement from a few non-lithium technologies.

Ravi Manghani, director of strategy and analytics, LS Energy Solutions

2022 has been a big year for many companies and consortiums to announce giga-sized battery factory plants in the US.

While it takes years to build a factory, in 2023 we will begin to see whether these plans materialise into ground-breaking ceremonies which will determine the trajectory of the rest of the ‘20s decade. If we see factories being built, we can expect an ease in the constriction of the battery supply in three to four years. If we don’t, batteries will continue to stay a prime commodity.

Ray Saka, VP sales, product management and services, IHI Terrasun

LS Energy Solutions’ AiON ESS made its debut in the field this year. Image: LS Energy Solutions.

What are the biggest priorities for your company, and for the wider industry, in 2023 and beyond?

Managing growth. With the rapid industry growth and expanding market opportunities, we are expanding our team to double its current size in the next 12 months while balancing the need for capital investment into people and R&D efforts supporting product development.

Successful Implementation of 2GWh of projects. We will always prioritise the commitments made to our customers to deliver projects in a safe and reliable way.

Understanding and leveraging the effects of the IRA. When the treasury department guidance is out, this will shape our strategy going forward with domestic content.

We will also be keeping an eye on what happens with Canada’s version of the IRA over the next year as well.

Tom Cornell, Senior VP of energy storage, Mitsubishi Power Americas

Our priority for 2023 is to start delivering 100+ MWh project orders, and we’re extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished with the AiON product in such a short amount of time.

Additionally, we will be adding more product options for our customers in terms of capacity and technology options. We want our customers to able to have a variety of solutions to choose from, all standardised and factory assembled to provide ease of onsite installation and reliable operation.

This pretty much dovetails into the biggest priorities for the industry – scale, standardisation, and certainty. Scale is a well-understood requirement and doesn’t need elaboration.

For the industry to become more robust, and yes, profitable, we need to move away from selling projects to selling products, and for our developer customers to be able to operate portfolios of assets. That’s how we grow and do so taking on proportionate levels of risk.

Ravi Manghani, director of strategy and analytics, LS Energy Solutions

Creating a diversified supply for batteries and power conversion systems (PCS) is top of mind. Going further, we will be looking at ways to offer more functionality (application stacking) from energy storage systems.

Right now, most installations are used to perform only one to three applications, usually storing electricity that would otherwise be curtailed, but storage can offer so much more for the electricity grid with correct system design and the right power plant controller.

For any industry, having a single source of any product is risky, so diversification will be essential across the board next year and beyond.

Demand for energy storage is already heating up and with the IRA and the energy crisis in Europe and around the world, the push for additional energy storage resources will continue to accelerate. In 2023, we will see whether the supply constraints begin to ease up so the demand can be met with supply.

Ray Saka, VP sales, product management and services, IHI Terrasun

Additional reporting by Cameron Murray.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 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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Susan Nickey

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc. (HASI), an investor in climate solutions, has closed two new programmatic investments in grid-connected renewable energy assets developed, owned and operated by The AES Corp.

Per the agreement, signed on December 22, 2022, HASI will make a common equity investment in an approximately 1.3 GW portfolio of operating solar and wind projects located across six states: Arizona, California, New York, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia. Additionally, HASI is financing land owned by AES for a solar project and a standalone battery energy storage system in California.

“We are thrilled to expand our programmatic relationship with AES through this new partnership, which is designed to encourage additional investments over the next several years,” says Susan Nickey, chief client officer of Hannon Armstrong. “AES’ purpose to accelerate the future of energy and create a sustainable future is totally aligned with our mission as a climate positive investor.”

“AES is committed to accelerating a greener, smarter energy future,” adds Leo Moreno, president of AES Clean Energy. “This investment creates an opportunity to expand our development of renewable energy projects, growing our portfolio of wind, solar and battery energy storage facilities across the U.S.”

In accordance with the terms of the equity investment in the renewable energy portfolio, HASI intends to acquire a 49% equity interest in the portfolio that includes 17 operating solar projects, and one wind project. With a weighted average remaining contract life of approximately 18 years, the portfolio’s cash flows are contracted with a diverse group of predominately investment-grade corporate, utility and municipal off-takers. AES will continue to own and operate the assets.

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A rendering of FREYR’s planned US gigafactory in Georgia. It is one of several to have accelerated plans in the US since the Inflation Reduction Act, although is going full steam ahead with its European projects too. Image: FREYR.

Some companies which were previously considering Europe for lithium-ion gigafactory projects are now looking to the US instead, executives working in site selection and design have told Energy-Storage.news.

As Energy-Storage.news has written extensively, over the course of 2022 the picture changed significantly for Europe and the US’ respective gigafactory investment climates.

Post-Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), growth in planned US production capacity started to outpace Europe’s, leading major EU policymakers to call for action to ‘to prevent an outflow of investment’ from its battery ecosystem.

What hasn’t been as concretely clear is whether these are due to respective ramping up and down of existing plans or the US taking investment away from its North Atlantic neighbour, but experts working in site selection and evaluation for gigafactories tell us this is definitely happening.

One of those is David Werner, executive VP for Industrial Market, i.e. manufacturing, at architecture and engineering firm Gresham Smith.

“One client that we’ve been helping with a gigafactory site evaluation process was initially looking at doing a project in Europe and that transitioned to now doing a project in North America. I don’t think it means the European project is off the table, it’s just the order of precedence has been reversed,” he said.

“That client saw the Inflation Reduction Act coming and shifted gears. I have had a lot of conversations with clients who are accelerating their plans in the US.”

Another is JLL, one of the world’s largest commercial real estate companies, which recently did the site selection for Turkish firm Kontrolmatik’s US gigafactory, which will be focused on the energy storage market.

Energy-Storage.news asked JLL’s International Director Meredith O’Connor if the firm was starting to see interest from companies which previously were looking at launching projects in Europe, but have pivoted to the US in light of the Act and lower power prices.

“Yes, we have a global EV steering committee, so we often compare the amount of projects in each country. There has been a rapid increase in battery and solar related projects since this summer. Our JLL team is working on several of them across the United States,” she said.

High power prices in Europe were cited as a reason for a potential delay to the third gigafactory from Northvolt, one of the leading companies in Europe’s gigafactory drive, which at the start of the year looked miles ahead of the US’.

JLL estimates a 25-35% increase in the volume of gigafactory projects since the Act was passed, in line with figures from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence provided to Energy-Storage.news at the start of December 2022. Benchmark then pegged Europe’s 2031 planned annual lithium-ion battery production capacity at 1,186.2GWh versus 992.6GWh/957.6GWh for North America/US.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. 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.

A month later Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 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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RWE’s solar-plus-storage system at one of three lignite mines it operates in NRW, Germany. Image: RWE.

RWE commissions solar-plus-storage system at lignite mine in NRW

Multinational energy firm RWE has commissioned a solar-plus-storage project at its Inden lignite mine in the district of Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany.

The bifacial solar PV array has an output of 14.4MW while the attached battery energy storage system (BESS) will provide 9.6MWh of energy storage capacity, and around 4.8MW of power.

The BESS will be used to optimise the solar PV’s discharge into the electricity grid. The project has come online several months later than initially expected.

RWE is building two similar units in another nearby lignite mine, Garzweiler, as reported by Energy-Storage.news recently, which will total 10.6MW/21.1MWh of energy storage.

It is aiming to deploy a minimum of 500MW in the Rhenish lignite mining district, an area with three large lignite mines it operates in NRW, by 2030.

Grid-scale battery storage deployments in Germany last year most likely eclipsed 200MW in total, a record for the market and the second-highest deployment figure in Europe after the UK, which deployed around 760MW (figure from Solar Media Market Research’s UK Battery Storage Project Database Report).

Rabobank invests in Dutch system integrator GIGA Storage

Rabobank has taken a minority stake in GIGA Storage, a developer that recently commissioned the largest BESS project in the Netherlands to-date, provided by Wärtsilä.

Rabobank said the investment will allow GIGA Storage to expand its network of large-scale energy storage projects.

The company’s two deployments so far total 57MWh of energy storage but the firm claims it has developed a project pipeline of 12,500MWh in both Belgium and the Netherlands, with 420MWh to be built in the near-term.

“GIGA Storage is a pioneer in the large-scale energy storage industry in the Benelux. We are proud to further shape our partnership with GIGA as an investor. This allows them to substantially grow both their battery projects and the self-developed IT platform in order to facilitate the further integration of renewable energy into the Benelux electricity grid,” said Francis Quint, global head of Rabo Investments.

Read more Energy-Storage.news coverage of the energy storage market in the Netherlands here. As we reported, the largest system being built was recently announced by the BESS division of Rolls-Royce.

Swiss Canton looks to energy storage

AEW Energie, the utility serving the Swiss Canton of Aargau, is adding a 5.5MW/10MWh BESS unit to its grid to help shore up energy security and decarbonise.

Hitachi Energy has been contracted to provide the system although its press release was unclear about whether the system has only been ordered or brought online already. A spokesperson said it was most likely the latter and Energy-Storage.news will update this article when confirmation has been received.

The BESS order includes Hitachi Energy’s intelligent automation software, the e-mesh portfolio which provides advanced analytics, software, and digital capabilities.

AEW will use the BESS as a learning platform to enhance grid stability and add distributed energy resources (DERs) to its operations. Looking ahead, it also wants to use energy storage to optimise EV charging, introduce virtual power plants (VPPs) and trade energy.

René Soland, head of Business Unit Grids AEW Energie AG, said: “What is exciting is that the BESS can give us new ways to orchestrate, optimise, and manage our existing infrastructure, as well as a path to the future, especially with more renewable power and the expected increase in electrification across many industries.”

Switzerland has been relatively quiet in the energy storage news world, but last year it did commission a 20GWh pumped hydro plant in the Valais mountains, one of the largest systems brought online anywhere in the world. See all other coverage of the Swiss market here.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers from across Europe all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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The City of Grinnell in Iowa is partnering with Alliant Energy on a solar project to be established on a Brownfield site and soon-to-be owned city land. Upon ownership of nearly 32 acres, the City of Grinnell plans to enter into a lease agreement with Alliant Energy and proceed with the development of the solar project on 5-7 acres at 400 6th Avenue West in Grinnell.

“Our partnership with Alliant Energy to develop a 1.59 MW solar energy system demonstrates our commitment to renewable clean energy generation,” says Russell Behrens, Grinnell’s city manager. “The project will revitalize an underutilized manufacturing property, generate meaningful revenue for community projects and allow the school district to recoup their investment in this property. This would not have been possible without the bold leadership demonstrated by the school district when addressing this long-time nuisance property.” 

Alliant Energy is currently conducting land surveys and studying power grid connection opportunities in the identified project location. If the studies confirm the expected positive results, Alliant Energy will design, construct, own, operate and maintain the solar project. The City of Grinnell will receive annual fixed lease payments over the next 20 years. 

The project is part of Alliant Energy’s Customer-Hosted Renewables Program, which enables customers with available land to host solar facilities and receive lease payments and renewable energy credits. The project also furthers Alliant Energy’s goals to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity it generates by 2050.

“We are excited to work with the City of Grinnell as we strive toward a more sustainable future together,” states Amanda Accola, key account manager for Alliant Energy. “The project aligns with our mission-driven purpose to have a role in strengthening communities while providing the opportunity to enhance community exposure to renewables as well as the consideration of how renewables can integrate with community planning and development.” 

The City of Grinnell and the Grinnell School District are currently working on a purchase agreement for the land on which the solar project will be built. 

Construction could begin in late-2023 and become operational in late-2024. The timeline, as well as final approval of the project is contingent on field study results, design, permitting and equipment availability.

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Zvi Lando

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Hark Systems Ltd. Founded in 2016 and based in Leeds, U.K., Hark offers a highly flexible Software as a Service (SaaS) Internet of Things (IoT) platform that allows enterprises and asset operators to connect, analyze and optimize industrial assets and energy in their commercial sites. Hark’s technology enables rapid deployment and commissioning across multiple sites. Hark’s customer base is comprised of diverse industries, including some of the largest supermarket chains in the U.K.

The acquisition of Hark is expected to enable SolarEdge to offer its commercial and industrial (C&I) customers expanded capabilities in energy management and connectivity, including identification of potential energy savings, detection of anomalies in assets’ energy consumption, and optimization of energy usage and carbon emissions through load orchestration and storage control.

“Hark’s SaaS platform will enable us to grow our extensive commercial and industrial energy management portfolio and offer additional services to our C&I customers,” says Zvi Lando, CEO of SolarEdge Technologies. “Coupled with our smart energy solutions, Hark’s advanced technological capabilities can provide enterprises with greater transparency and control of their energy usage and carbon emissions.”

“SolarEdge has revolutionized how solar energy is harvested and managed and has deployed millions of smart energy management systems globally,” states Jordan Appleson, CEO and co-founder, Hark Systems. “We are excited to be able to be a part of the SolarEdge offering and join their global infrastructure to assist enterprises in the C&I market  to manage their energy in a more efficient and sustainable way.”

The acquisition is subject to certain customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2023.

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Swell will aggregate home solar and battery systems into the VPP in Sacramento, the capital city of California. Image: Basil D Soufi / WikiCommons.

Virtual power plant (VPP) specialist Swell Energy will aggregate home solar and battery systems in a new programme from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).

SMUD’s My Energy Optimizer Partner+ programme, a residential customer-driven VPP initiative, will launch enrolments in quarter one this year and start operations in April. The initiative will allow customers to have their systems’ operated in combination with others in return for both upfront and ongoing compensation.

There are around 600 customer-sited energy storage systems in SMUD’s service area and another 400 in the interconnection process, Swell said. Home battery capacity generally ranges from a few kWh to 10kWh at the higher end.

Suleman Khan, CEO of Swell Energy, said: “Our collaborative virtual power plant will provide real-time energy management and synchronised battery dispatch across SMUD’s customer base, enabling large-scale renewable deployment and minimising the need for conventional power plants in the region. We believe this model is a beacon for how municipal utilities and other publicly owned utilities can achieve scale and value with distributed energy resources.”

SMUD is a community-owned not-for-profit utility serving the city of Sacramento, the capital of California. It was recently in the headlines of the energy storage world after a bold multi-year agreement with iron electrolyte flow battery company ESS Inc for the latter to deploy up to 2,000MWh of its systems in its service area.

Swell’s deal with the utility comes a few months after it secured US$120 million in funding from investors including Softbank Vision Fund 2 towards its VPP programmes across the US, covered by Energy-Storage.news at the time. The company has been developing and productising its VPP solutions offering since 2015.

See CEO Khan’s interview with Energy-Storage.news from April 2021 here and all coverage from across developments in the VPP space here.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 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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Solar Alliance’s VC1 solar project in New York

Solar Alliance Energy Inc. has completed the construction of the company’s first two solar projects in New York; both are now in operation.

VC1, a 298 kW project located in the Village of Cazenovia, and US1, a 389 kW project located in the Village of Union Springs, have both received permission to operate and are now generating clean, renewable electricity under long-term power purchase agreements with the local communities.

“Solar Alliance is now the proud owner of two operating solar projects in New York as we wrapped up 2022 by achieving commercial operation on US1 and VC1,” says CEO Myke Clark. “These two projects represent proof-of-concept for our asset ownership strategy and represent a solid foundation to aggressively grow our portfolio of assets under ownership in 2023 and beyond.”

“The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. is driving increased investment opportunities for the projects Solar Alliance is developing and these New York projects are a prime example of the benefits of the legislation. Combined with the growing revenue stream from our installation division, the energizing of these projects is a key catalyst for the next stage in our growth,” concludes Clark.

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Burns & McDonnell believes workforce shortages will be a big challenge for the industry. Image: Burns & McDonnell.

US-headquartered construction firm Burns & McDonnell supplies answers to the first in our series of Q&A blogs looking back at 2022 and looking ahead to this year in energy storage.

Burns & McDonnell has worked on over 40,000MWh of battery storage projects including the world’s largest at Moss Landing in California, and has a team experienced with a diverse range of other energy storage technologies.

We asked the company for its views at the start of last year too, and various members of its technical, executive, and business development teams contributed views and predictions for the future. You can read that entry from last year here, but to offer the briefest of recaps, senior VP of renewables Doug Riedel said that in 2021, energy storage engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects Burns & McDonnell worked on grew significantly in size from previous years and forecast that trend to continue.

Process technology director Tisha Scroggin-Wicker said interest in long-duration energy storage (LDES) would increase in 2022 – and it did – even though in most regions of the world, the market design to attract investment in these technologies would still not be present, which Scroggin-Wicker also predicted correctly.

Meanwhile, energy storage director Chris Ruckman and storage EPC director Matt Domeier predicted supply chain issues would persist and costs, largely tied to logistics as well as soaring materials prices, would increase.

So how did the company see the industry in 2022 and what does its clean energy team think we might see in 2023?

What did 2022 mean for your energy storage business, and how did it compare with the year before that?

In 2020 the market dealt with COVID-19 impacts, and in 2021 we saw a lot of supply chain issues. In 2022, it became the year of inflation and how to deal with it. The past few years have taught us to be flexible and incorporate variables into the way we execute projects. The market has forced us to refresh pricing frequently and keep a pulse on the market to help our clients navigate the uncertainty and market fluctuations.

Matt Domeier, energy storage EPC

The projects we’re building are also getting bigger. We’re in the middle of construction on a 350MW battery storage facility and are starting to see many more mega-scale battery energy storage facilities being deployed. Utility-scale battery storage projects are projected to grow 4x by 2026. At Burns & McDonnell we’ve seen continued growth both in the industry and internally.

Chris Ruckman, VP of energy storage

In 2022, we also saw an uptick in interest in long-duration storage technologies. With the increase in pricing of lithium and incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), we’re seeing more interest in alternative storage technologies and we expect to see a lot more opportunities being looked at in 2023 as grant applications are submitted and approved.

Tisha Scroggin-Wicker, process technology director

In a year in which we saw the passing of a monumental piece of legislation in the IRA it is almost hard to compare it to [the] previous year. I think we will talk about before and after the passing of IRA for decades to come.

Adam Bernardi, renewables EPC sales and strategy lead

To support the energy storage industry here in the US, the market has shifted further upstream in the total value chain. Industry in the US is transitioning to produce more of the critical minerals and derivative chemicals that support the manufacturing of the batteries, which is important for the energy security of the country.

Kevin Syphard, chemicals director

What were some of the biggest gains and steps forward made by the industry, including your company, during the last 12 months? 

We think the IRA will prove to be one of the biggest steps forward the industry has seen in many years. We’ve been working with clients that have projects in-flight to help them figure out how to apply the tax credits and other incentives unlocked by the IRA. Helping them explore and understand the difference between investment tax credits and production tax credits for solar has only been one aspect of the process. The ability to take advantage of direct-pay and opportunities to sell tax credits is also creating a market allowing a range of players to leverage these incentives.

This is exactly what we need as an industry to build the amount of storage we’ll need to successfully navigate the energy transition and meet decarbonisation goals, while providing reliable power.

Lastly, but I think most importantly, we’re seeing the fruits of our labour in California and the storage market is being validated. As the world’s largest concentration of grid-connected lithium-ion batteries, this storage system helped CAISO avoid grid blackouts during the extreme heat wave last summer.

Chris Ruckman, VP of energy storage

Battery OEMS have increased their offering by also providing containers and in some cases the full system. This will continue to squeeze the integrator’s role in the market. The rate of change and the increase in new solutions and technologies coming to market is also telling of forecasted adoption and growth.

Jason Barmann, energy storage technology manager

The industry faced some well-documented challenges during the year, with the highest profile being supply chain constraints. How have those challenges affected the industry and how should they be confronted?  

With the demands and IRA incentives spurring more projects, we’re also forecasting that labour availability will be a huge theme. There are huge battery, EV, chip, and solar module factories being planned and all will compete for the same labour pool we use for solar and storage construction.

Matt Domeier, energy storage EPC director

The resurgence in onshoring is going to put the squeeze on labour. This squeeze will then result in higher wages and benefits packages. This should be thought of as a market issue and not a project issue, meaning if we only do what is in the best interest of the project and pay a dollar more than the next guy, that cycle could spin out of control and support more inflation, not less.  We need to remember that the same labour that is going to build these energy storage projects are also going to be used to build the factories that will supply US made batteries.

Adam Bernardi, renewables EPC sales and strategy lead

The market continues to grow at an ‘unprecedented rate’, which brings new challenges as well as opportunities. Image: Burns & McDonnell.

Which technology and industry trends would you recommend our readers keep a close eye on in 2023? 

We see lots of opportunities for the advancements of control systems. The BESS market is still relatively new, and a lot of systems installed earlier in the market cycle as well as some going in today, don’t have the same level of sophistication that traditional industrial systems have. We see an opportunity to move the market from these “home-made systems” to more sophisticated, reliable systems.  

Another interesting thing to keep an eye on is the advancements of battery technology. Instead of repurposing EV batteries we’re seeing some companies looking to develop batteries with characteristics specifically manufactured for standalone storage markets. We’re at a point where the industry is large enough and there’s enough investment in it that we start optimising production of batteries specifically for standalone storage.

Jason Barmann, energy storage technology manager

As the energy storage market continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, so will the volume of lithium-ion batteries at the end of their lives. We need to immediately start considering what to do when those times come.

Bailey Semeniuk, energy storage engineering and development manager

Historically the production of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide has been in China, South America, and Australia, but everyone is watching the critical minerals and associated chemical derivatives market here in North America find its legs.

But close behind is the need to advance the technologies to recycle batteries and create a circularity in the energy storage market.

Kevin Syphard, chemicals manager

What are the biggest priorities for your company, and for the wider industry, in 2023 and beyond?

Reliability. Improving performance and flexibility for both lithium and non-lithium solutions.

Jason Barmann, energy storage technology manager

We’re constantly learning in this new, rapidly growing industry. Learning how to deploy and finding out which solution will be best for the use-case. What’s that next-gen technology?

Tisha Scroggin-Wicker, process technology director

Flexibility. Being able to pivot quickly on technologies, execution strategies, and navigating the IRA.

Adam Bernardi, renewables EPC sales and strategy lead

Seeing larger scale projects moving forward into bid-phases, that we hadn’t traditionally seen moving forward in the US.

Chris Ruckman, VP of energy storage

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 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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Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo and West Virgina governor Jim Justice, third and fourth form left respectively. Image: Form Energy.

Form Energy has chosen a site in West Virginia, US, to manufacture its multi-day iron-air battery with a total investment of up to US$760 million.

The company will partner with the state of West Virginia to build its first manufacturing facility on a 55-acre site in the city of Weirton, a former national leader in steel production located along the Ohio River.

Construction will begin this year with a 2024 target for commercial manufacturing of its iron-air battery, which is based on a proprietary technology which CEO Mateo Jamarilla discussed with Energy-Storage.news in an interview from 2021.

A total of up to US$760 million will be invested in the site, creating 750 new full-time jobs. The state also structured a financial incentive package worth up to US$290 million to convince Form Energy to choose the site, governor Jim Justice said.

“The funds put toward this project are guaranteed, secured, and collateralised through ownership of all land and buildings by the state. The West Virginia Economic Development Authority allocated $75 million toward the purchase of land and the construction of buildings in Weirton this morning. I plan on working with the West Virginia Legislature and our federal partners to obtain an additional $215 million needed to finalise our agreement,” he added.

The manufacturing facility announcement comes a few months after Form Energy grew its total investment to US$800 million with a US$540 million Series E, reported by Energy-Storage.news at the time. The round was led by one of private equity firm TPG’s impact investment funds, the TPG Rise fund.

The company claims its battery technology can provide 100 hours of energy storage duration or more, which will help electricity grids to reliably run on renewable energy throughout the year. It is set to bring a 1MW/150MWh pilot system online this year with Minnesota utility Great River Energy while in February last year it began talks with Georgia Power for a potential 15MW/1,500MWh system.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 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.

Continue reading