A BESS project Nidec ASI delivered in France earlier this year. Image: Corporate video/news report on M6.

Nidec ASI, the Italy-based industrial solutions division of Japanese conglomerate Nidec Group, will provide EPC services for a 50MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Northern Ireland.

An announcement first covered by our sister site Solar Power Portal, the project is being developed by SUSI Partners and will provide grid services for grid operators EIRGrid/SONI.

It is Nidec’s second-big project in the UK this year. In March, investor Gore Street Capital selected it as turnkey systems and EPC contractor for two BESS projects in the UK, totalling 129.8MW, which are expected to reach commercial operation in February 2023.

“This new project provides further confirmation of our leadership position in Europe in the battery energy storage sector. This latest order joins other important BESS projects in the pipeline in the European market, particularly in France, Italy and Portugal,” said Dominique Llonch, CEO of Nidec ASI and chairman of Nidec Industrial Solutions, the wider energy and infrastructure division of Nidec Group.

Gore Street, one of the largest investors in the UK BESS sector through its energy storage fund, saw its net income grow 191% and EBITDA surge 704% in the year to 31 March, 2022. Average revenue per MW for its British assets increased 68%. The company has recently internationalised with acquisitions in the US and Germany, a move which Energy-Storage.news recently interviewed founder and CEO Alex O’Cinneide about.

Nidec ASI claims to be among the “top three world leaders” in the BESS solutions market with over 1.6GWh installed across nine markets in Europe and the Maldives. However, research firm IHS Markit ranked it ninth in its ‘Top energy storage system integrators in 2021’ list based on both installed and planned projects.

The company builds its BESS solutions at plants in Milan and Vincenza, Italy.

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NeoVolta’s home battery storage system. Image: NeoVolta.

Home energy storage system provider NeoVolta has raised US$3.9 million in a Nasdaq uplisting, lower than initially planned amidst ‘tough capital markets,’ according the company’s CFO.

The company last week announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 975,000 units at a price of US$4.00 per unit, totaling US$3.9 million (before deducting discounts, commissions and other expenses related to the offering).

The company has been listed on the OTCQB Marketplace since 2019, but with this uplisting its common stock and warrants have begun trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, as of 28 July, 2022, under the symbols “NEOV” and “NEOVW,” respectively.

It said the uplisting was at a premium to its market price, although it has since increased and is trading at US$4.125 at the time of writing.

The US$3.9 million is 20% less than the US$5 million the company was seeking, according to reports in early July, which added that US$5 million was itself 20% lower than a previous target. At the time of those reports, the company’s CFO Steve Bond provided Energy-Storage.news with the following comment on the reason for the uplisting as well as why it had scaled down the IPO size:

“We are uplisting to raise capital to fund our growth both geographically and in product diversity. Our offering size has been changing based on the capital markets, which as you probably know, have been pretty tough lately,” he said.

NeoVolta designs, develops, and manufactures residential energy storage systems using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells. Its core product is the NV14, a 14.4kWh batttery with a 7.68kW inverter and online energy management system, which can be expanded to 24kWh with an add-on battery.

It primarily markets and sells its products directly to solar installers and solar equipment distributors. In the future, the company intends to target residential developers, commercial developers and “other commercial opportunities”. Revenues rose 139% to US$4.8 million in the year to 30 June, 2021 (its financial year).

Underwriters have 45 days to purchase up to an extra 146,250 shares of common stock and/or the same amount of warrants. The offering was expected to close on August 1. NeoVolta IPOed back in May 2019, raising a similar amount to its recent uplisting.

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a request for information (RFI) seeking public input for a new $750 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program.

Funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program will support small and medium-sized manufacturers to produce or recycle clean energy products or deploy greenhouse gas emissions reduction equipment at facilities in coal communities.

Along with these investments, the program will expand the nation’s clean energy infrastructure, strengthen domestic supply chains, and support Biden’s goals to fully decarbonize the American economy.  

“Transforming existing manufacturing and industrial properties into clean energy and recycling centers is key to making the benefits of renewables – from lower energy costs to job creation and cleaner air – available to communities that have powered America for decades,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is making it possible for programs like this to further DOE’s strategy to strengthen our nation’s clean energy infrastructure and extend our support for small and medium-sized manufacturers and surrounding coal communities that are critical to reaching our clean energy future.” 

Led by DOE’s new Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, the RFI seeks public input on how the program can effectively bolster secure, resilient clean energy supply chains and support community development and economic revitalization in communities that have experienced coal mine and coal power plant closures. This includes technical assistance for manufacturers to support the transition of former coal workers into clean energy jobs and shift energy infrastructure into hubs for future economic growth. Small and medium-sized manufacturers applying to this program must gross less than $100 million in sales annually, employ fewer than 500 employees at their plant site, and have accrued a total annual energy bill of more than $100,000 but less than $2.5 million. 

Projects will be categorized by the following:

– Clean Energy Property Projects to re-equip or expand existing manufacturing or recycling facilities, or establish new facilities, to produce or recycle clean energy technologies or products.– Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Projects to re-equip existing industrial or manufacturing facilities with equipment designed to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions below current best practices. 

RFI responses must be received by no later than 5 p.m. EDT on September 16.

Register to attend a public webinar to learn more about this RFI on August 16. 

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest inventory of electric generators shows 15 GW of new utility-scale electric generating capacity came online in the United States during the first half of 2022. Based on the most recently reported plans, developers could add another 29 GW of capacity in the second half of the year.

EIA’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory compiles information on all U.S. utility-scale power plants (plants with a nameplate capacity of at least 1 MW) that are currently operating, planning to come online, or retired. The inventory includes all utility-scale plants that have retired since 2002.

Wind generation accounts for the largest share, 34%, of the 15.1 GW of capacity that came online in the United States during the first half of 2022, followed by natural gas, solar and battery storage. More than 40% of the wind capacity added so far in 2022 is located in Texas, 2.2 GW of the 5.2 GW wind total. The largest renewable projects that came online in the first six months of 2022 include the 999 MW Traverse Wind Project in Oklahoma, the 492 MW Maverick Creek Wind in Texas, and the 440 MW solar and battery storage project at Slate Hybrid in California.

Developers and project planners report plans to add 29.4 GW of new capacity in the United States in the second half of 2022. Nearly half of that planned capacity is from solar (13.6 GW), followed by wind (6 GW). As in previous years, many projects plan to come online in December because of tax incentives.

Respondents to EIA’s survey currently plan to add 3.7 GW less solar capacity in 2022 than what they had expected at the beginning of the year. Pandemic-related challenges in supply chains and a U.S. Department of Commerce tariff investigation are likely causes for this decrease.

Of the 15.1 GW of electric generating capacity that U.S. operators plan to retire during 2022, more than half (8.8 GW) was retired in the first half of the year. Coal-fired power plants will account for 76% of the retirements this year, followed by natural gas (12%) and nuclear (9%). The largest U.S. coal power plant retirements in 2022 include the 1,305 MW William H. Zimmer plant in Ohio, which retired in May, and the 1,205 MW Morgantown Generating Station in Maryland, which retired in June. In addition, the 769 MW Palisades nuclear power facility in Michigan retired in June.

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Michael Heinz

BASF has entered into virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA) for wind and solar power totaling 250 MW to power its sites across the United States. They are designed to offset the carbon-intensive grid-supplied electricity being used at more than 20 of BASF’s manufacturing sites in several states across the country, from Texas to Michigan.

BASF is collaborating with various partners who are driving the sustainable change of the energy sector. The chemical company will purchase 100 MW of power generated by Dawn Solar. An additional 150 MW of renewable energy capacity will be added through transactions with EDF Energy Services.

“Renewable energy is an essential tool to reach BASF’s ambitious goal of net zero emissions by 2050,” says Michael Heinz, member of the board of executive directors for BASF SE and BASF Corp.’s chairman and CEO. “We are committed to further improving our energy footprint in the region and we are eager to drive the energy transition for chemical manufacturing in North America.”

The combined agreements for the output of 250 MW of renewable generation capacity will result in the purchase of more than 660,000 MWh of electricity per year. With these agreements in place, the share of renewable energy in BASF’s total North American electricity consumption will rise to more than 25%.

“These agreements help us reach our clean energy goals in areas where the local electric utility does not supply adequate renewable power,” mentions Tobias Dratt, president of BASF North America. “At the same time, our financial commitment enables the realization of large solar and wind power projects and adds clean energy to the grid.”

Last year, a collaboration with EDF Energy Services added 35 MW of wind capacity to the energy mix for BASF’s manufacturing sites in Freeport and Pasadena, Texas. In another joint project with EDF Renewables, BASF’s property in Toms River became home to New Jersey’s largest solar project and the largest solar project built on a Superfund site in the United States.

BASF aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% compared with 2018 by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

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Image: Eos Energy Enterprises via Facebook.

Eos Energy Enterprises now has an order backlog worth US$457.3 million following a busy quarter for the US zinc-based battery storage solutions provider.

The company, headquartered in Pittsburgh, went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in late 2020. It has just published its financial results presentation for the second quarter of 2022.

Eos said it booked orders worth US$257.5 million during the quarter, with year-to-date booked orders accounting for US$324.7 million of the near-half-billion-dollar total backlog.

That demonstrates considerable growth from 2021, when the backlog at year-end was US$148.7 million. Company CEO Joe Mastrangelo said in a conference call to discuss earnings that the backlog equates to close to 2GWh of customer orders.

While Eos said prior to the listing that it didn’t anticipate reaching profitability until at least halfway through 2023, revenues are also on an upward trajectory, although still relatively modest.

In Q2 2022 it netted US$5.9 million revenue, a 79% increase from Q1 2022’s US$3.298 million. In the whole of 2021, it had banked US$4.6 million revenue. That said, the company has some way to go in the second half of the year to achieve its forecasted US$50 million revenue target for this year.

For Eos and other battery storage companies – especially those not using lithium-ion batteries in their systems – it is becoming a question of whether they will be able to scale up manufacturing to meet an expected wave of demand for large-scale energy storage equipment, in addition to achieving cost reduction targets.

That too appears to be going well, with the company reporting it is on-track to get to a targeted 800MWh of annual manufacturing capacity during this year and continued reducing its unit production costs while improving performance. Having added about 65MWh of production capacity during Q1, Eos is now at 536MWh annual capacity as of 30 June 2022 when the reported period ended.

However, its costs of goods sold was US$36.9 million and its cash balance at the end of the quarter stood at US$16.3 million, depleted from US$56.6 million at the end of Q1 2022 and US$105.7 million at the end of 2021. Net loss for the quarter of US$56.7 million was recorded, while in Q1 it had been US$45.8 million.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news yesterday, Eos Energy Enterprises has just secured a US$85 million loan facility with Atas Credit Partners. Earlier in the quarter it inked an equity purchase agreement with Yorkville Advisors for up to US$200 million, of which US$12.5 million has been utilised to date.

Policy and customer-driven demand potential

CEO Mastrangelo talked about opportunities on the horizon and big picture market movements that could benefit the company’s long-duration energy storage value proposition. Eos’ Zynth battery units use a zinc hybrid cathode that enables storage and discharge of three-hour duration, but units can be connected and stacked to provide up to 12 hours.

The US Inflation Reduction Act could be a catalyst for the energy transition as well as for domestic manufacturing, including investment tax credit (ITC) and production tax credit (PTC) incentives to downstream and upstream battery companies, Mastrangelo said. Eos claimed that close to 90% of its bill of materials (BOM) comes from US suppliers.

He also mentioned that in California, a US$140 million grant programme is going to be available to support utility-scale long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects, through the California Energy Commission (CEC), equivalent to a sort of state-level Department of Energy.

The company has also submitted an application for a loan from the US Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Loan Program.

Elsewhere, Mastrangelo said various global territories like India and Europe hold promise, with interest in energy storage growing in the latter in the wake of the gas supply shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and India already on course to deploy large amounts of storage to facilitate renewable energy integration.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news in July, a previously agreed master supply agreement to US EPC and developer Bridgelink Commodities for projects in Texas’ ERCOT market was upscaled in early July from 240MWh rising to 500MWh to a 1.1GWh total order. Those projects will be between three- and eight-hours duration, for a total value of about US$220 million.

Eos claimed that its pipeline of potential opportunities includes 7GWh of customer interest at the technical proposal stage, worth about US$1.8 billion, 16GWh (US$4.3 billion) at the non-binding quote stage and 4GWh at the letter of intent (LOI) or firm commitment stage (US$0.9 billion). Meanwhile it has 29GWh of potential lead generation worth US$6.2 billion counted in its pipeline.

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Research firm Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables has downgraded its forecasts for US demand for energy storage in 2022 and 2023 by around one-third, in its most recent global outlook report.

The global energy storage market is set to reach a cumulative deployment level of 500GW by 2031, of which 75% will be in the US and China, the firm said in the latest quarterly edition of its ‘Global energy storage market outlook update’.

A summary blog did not reveal its GWh forecast for 2031. BloombergNEF forecast back in November 2021 that by 2030 there would be a cumulative 358GW/1,028GWh of energy storage installations worldwide by 2030.

The US remains an energy storage market leader but disruption from trade actions has caused WoodMac to downgrade its forecasts for the coming two years. It has reduced its demand forecasts for the market by 34% for 2022 and by 27% for 2023.

The downgrade has come as a result of disruptions within the grid-scale and distributed segments from the antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) tariff suit in Q2. The move by the US government has been covered in-depth by Energy-Storage.news‘ sister site PV Tech.

The US solar-and-storage market was particularly hit hard by the AD/CVD tariff petition, with approximately 35% of 2022 hybrid grid-scale installations delayed, the firm added. Some relief was brought by an Executive Order from the Biden administration on 6 June which saw a two-year delay to new duties on solar cells from four Southeast Asian markets. As such, it said that a market rebound is still possible.

As show in WoodMac’s chart below, the US and China are set to the dominate the market over 2021-31 by GWh deployments, while the top 10 markets will account for 91% of additions over the period. Grid-scale will be the biggest portion in most places other than German, India and Japan, where residential and commercial & industrial (C&I) sites together will account for the majority.

The research firm also said the REPowerEU plan has provided a boost to Europe’s energy storage market, with five-fold growth expected over the decade, but that project economics remain a challenge. It quantified the boost from the plan at 12GWh.

Grid-scale storage has yet to take off in most countries on the European continent but renewables growth, gas supply constraints and overburdened interconnectors can help kickstart growth in the sector.

China, meanwhile, will continue to dominate the Asia-Pacific market but the profitability of energy storage projects remains a challenge to sustainable development of the sector there. The state is considering what national policies could improve the compensation for energy storage costs and enhance the economic incentives of projects.

The country’s Fourteenth Five-Year New Energy Storage Development Implementation Plan, released in March, has been followed by 12 provinces and cities announcing 2025 cumulative energy storage deployment targets totalling 40GW.

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The Duane Arnold nuclear station in Iowa, near where NextEra’s projects are to be built. Image: AsNuke.

Iowa’s energy regulator has approved two projects from NextEra Energy Resources including a 300MWh co-located battery energy storage system (BESS).

The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) said it will grant certificates of public convenience, use and necessity for the two projects from energy supplier NextEra once they have been approved by the Linn County Board of Supervisors.

The projects are Duane Arnold Solar, a 50MW solar PV facility, and Duane Arnold Solar II, a 150MW solar PV plant with a 75MW/300MWh BESS (the size limits of the projects as per the IUB’s order).

The projects are close to the Duane Arnold nuclear station near Palo in Linn County, a facility majority-owned by NextEra which shut down in August 2020. This allows them to use the existing grid infrastructure and connections at the location, which falls within the remit of grid operator Midwestern Independent System Operator (MISO).

As previously reported by Energy-Storage.news, NextEra already has a deal in place to sell the projects to utility Alliant Energy once operational, which is expected in 2024.

According to the IUB’s order document, the four-hour BESS at Duane Arnold Solar II will consist of 96 containers with space for an additional 48 battery containers for use in the future, as the capacity of the battery cells diminishes over time. It added that the BESS will serve to complement the solar facility by smoothing, shifting and firming the solar generation.

In a piece of concurrent news, Alliant Energy has turned a separate 5MW BESS project online in Cedar Rapids, also in Iowa, next to its Deer Run substation. It more than doubles Alliant’s BESS power in the state from 3.5MW to 8.5MW. The utility also operates in Wisconsin.

“While Alliant Energy has operated battery storage systems for several years, battery technology has advanced by leaps and bounds enabling new projects to deliver greater efficiency, performance and affordability,” said Mayuri Farlinger, vice president of customer and community engagement at Alliant Energy.

A press release said the 5MW BESS unit would store energy from the grid at times of the day when demand is low and release it when it’s needed to power homes and businesses. The company also plans to closely study the BESS system’s performance, design features and grid integration.

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Ameresco’s projects will join the growing fleet of BESS in SCE’s service area. Image: Convergent Energy + Power.

Ameresco and Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) teams are “working around the clock,” to deliver a 2.1GWh, three-site battery storage portfolio by the end of this year, according to Ameresco’s CEO.

Energy efficiency and renewables solutions company Ameresco reported its second quarter financial results on Monday (1 August). In a conference call to discuss results, CEO and president George Sakellaris offered an update on the project with investor-owned utility SCE, one of the biggest battery storage buildouts ever contracted.

The company is currently also working on its biggest solar-plus-storage project deal to date. Ameresco has partnered with developer Bright Canyon on Kūpono Solar, which will pair 48MW of solar PV with 42MW/168MWh of batteries in O’ahu, Hawaii. The project will be connected to utility Hawaiian Electric’s (HECO’s) grid.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news in June, a 37-year land lease for Kūpono has been signed with the Department of Navy for the site at Pearl Harbor base, and its 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with HECO has been approved by Hawaii’s regulatory Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Bright Canyon will retain an equity ownership in the asset, with the construction and commissioning expected to be completed early in 2024, the CEO said during the call. It’s the first project Ameresco and Bright Canyon have worked together on, but more are likely to come, Sakellaris said.

Ameresco Projects revenues drive overall growth once again

The two projects currently fall into Ameresco’s Projects business line, one of four business lines for the company.

A doubling in second quarter revenue was led by growth in Projects, with Ameresco involved in projects in other areas including LED lighting retrofits for towns and energy conservation work for US Federal agencies including the military.

During the quarter, Ameresco was also awarded a 6MW/6MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) supply contract for pairing with an existing 18.6MW solar PV array at Fort Detrick Army Garrison in Maryland.

In Q2 2022, Ameresco reported US$489.1 million in Projects revenues, a big jump year-on-year from Q1 2021’s US$196.3 million. Net income from the business line was US$15.8 million, again, a step up from the previous year when it stood at US$10.4 million, and adjusted EBITDA of US$29.2 million for the quarter just gone versus US$11.3 million in the previous year’s equivalent period.

The company’s total revenues across all lines including Projects, Energy Assets, O&M and Others added up to US$577.4 million for Q2 2022, more than double total Q1 2021 revenues of US$273.9 million. This was accompanied by a year-on-year rise in net income and adjusted EBITDA, with Q2 2022 net income standing at US$32.2 million against US$13.7 million in Q1 2021, and adjusted EBITDA at US$60.3 million compared to US$34.4 million the year before.

As of the end of the reported period on 30 June 2022, awarded project backlog stood at a value of US$1,829 million and contracted project backlog at US$1,003 million, although it must be noted these figures include projects across all technologies and not just battery storage.

Ameresco reiterated previously offered guidance for full-year revenues to be in the range of US$1.83 billion to US$1.87 billion.

Rendering of a solar PV and battery project Ameresco is delivering for a municipal utility in Colorado. Image: Ameresco.

SCE project completion expected before end of this year

In March’s release of Q1 figures, Ameresco had said the SCE contract had accounted for the majority of a 36% increase in Project revenues in that period, with the company actively pursuing several other large battery project contracts in the wake of the award.

However, a month later in April, the company issued an update, revealing that factors including localised lockdowns in China and new rules on safe lithium battery transportation from the country had caused delays to the project’s execution. Ameresco invoked a force majeure clause in its contract with the utility.

One of the key reasons for Ameresco’s selection by SCE in 2021 had been its ability to complete the project along expedited timelines, with all three systems scheduled for substantial completion by the beginning of August, in time for California’s highest summer peak demand period.

Although that deadline has passed, CEO George Sakellaris said this week that 200MW to 300MW are expected to be in service by September. “Substantial progress” was made during the quarter despite challenges relating to COVID-19, supply chains and permitting, according to the CEO, who recently visited the three sites.

Around two-thirds of the batteries are now on site and the balance is already in transit and completion is expected by the end of this year.

Sakellaris said he was “very pleased by the extraordinary efforts of both the Ameresco and the Southern California Edison teams in working around the clock to deliver these battery storage projects this year”.

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Cypress Creek Renewables’ Dunn Solar Project in Harnett County, N.C.

Cypress Creek Renewables has acquired a 100 MW transmission project from Carson Power to add to its New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) development portfolio. The project, located near Rochester, N.Y., is in the early stages of development and is expected to be placed in service in 2026. 

Carson Power will continue to co-develop the project, supporting entitlement and community engagement, with Cypress Creek leading principal development, offtake, procurement and financing responsibilities. 

Nationally, Cypress Creek has developed more than 11 GW of solar and storage projects to date and has a 15 GW solar and storage pipeline. In New York, Cypress Creek has placed over 35 solar energy and energy storage projects into operation and is currently developing an additional 55 distributed generation, utility-scale and standalone energy storage projects across the state. Most recently, Cypress Creek was awarded a Renewable Energy Certificate from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for its 130 MW Bear Ridge project located in Western New York.  

“We are incredibly excited to begin our partnership with Carson Power,” says Marisa Scavo, director of development for Cypress Creek. “Over the past seven years, we have been committed to powering the clean energy transition in New York State and are looking forward to expanding how we develop and advance solar and energy storage. With this project we will commence a, hopefully long, relationship providing development capital to Carson Power as their business grows and our commitment to New York strengthens.”

“We are thrilled to kick-off co-development of this 100 MW solar project in New York with a partner like Cypress Creek,” adds Emilie Flanagan, CEO of Carson Power. “Their deep expertise in utility-scale development, financing, ownership and operations in New York will be instrumental to bringing this asset to NTP. We are excited to start the foundation of what we believe will be a great development partnership with Cypress Creek to continue supporting the clean energy transition of the State of New York.”

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