Construction activities are ongoing at the Buckeye Crown and Sol projects with material staging and module tracking system installation underway.

LyondellBasell has signed two additional long-term renewable electricity power purchase agreements (PPA) with Buckeye Partners for a total of 165 MW to be sourced from Buckeye’s solar farms currently under construction in north Texas.

This agreement is the fourth renewable energy PPA for LyondellBasell and comes just one month after the company announced PPAs with ENGIE North America for 100 MW and Buckeye for 116 MW. The four agreements represent a total of 381 MW of renewable energy, estimated to generate approximately 1,037,000 MWh of clean power annually.

“Infused in the work we do and products we make is our commitment to continually improve the quality of life and the environment,” says Peter Vanacker, CEO of LyondellBasell. “Renewable energy is an important step to achieving our GHG emission reduction goals on our journey to net-zero by 2050. Through their use in the production of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles, our products are critical to the energy transition. Expanding our investment in wind and solar energy sources helps reduce the emissions associated with producing the vital products which make renewable energy possible.”

Buckeye’s Crown and Sol solar projects are located in Falls County, Texas on adjacent sites and are expected to commence commercial operations in the third quarter of 2023. Each PPA term with LyondellBasell is for 15 years. The projects are estimated to generate over 400,000 MWh of clean power annually for LyondellBasell.

Continue reading

Lion Energy, a power solutions company that help individuals, families and organizations of any size become energy independent, has launched LionESS – ESS stands for energy storage systems. The technology enables customers to store virtually any type of renewable power generated (solar, wind, hydro and thermal), as well non-renewable sources (utility grid and generators). The result is an inventory of stored energy from a variety of power sources that can be managed and maximized for the most economical, eco-friendly usage possible.

“We provide peace of mind that your appliances, computers, networks, lights and other critical devices stay on during emergencies, during peak demand periods and when utility company blackouts happen,” says Tyler Hortin, president of Lion Energy. “Most importantly, we pave the pathway to moving the country – and the entire world – to 100 percent renewable energy and energy independence, which can only be achieved through safe, reliable energy storage. LionESS provides game-changing cost saving opportunities just in peak cost time usage alone, where in-home and large custom systems can pay for themselves quickly, such as when your local utility offers cash rebates and other incentives.”

LionESS technology elements are integral to the design, creation, deployment and support of Lion Energy products, all of which are designed and engineered in the United States, ranging from small handheld power devices and portable solar generators to home, business and industrial custom solutions. These technologies include the Energy Management System (EMS) software, firmware and infrastructure to oversee the entire process of energy storage and use as well as the Battery Management System (BMS) software and infrastructure to efficiently use and protect the high-grade lithium iron phosphate batteries that serve as the core energy storage.

The Lion App will communicate with LionESS, providing data and control at the user’s fingertips, making it easy for anyone to control, efficiently store and use energy without having to be technologically savvy.

By utilizing LionESS, customers can deploy the most cutting-edge approaches to energy use, such as peak energy shaving, energy shift-time of use, energy backup power, energy arbitrage functions and critical-start.

LionESS technology’s impact can be experienced across home and custom business and industrial solutions, including Lion Sanctuary, a home and office energy storage system. It is a solar inverter and energy storage system that harnesses energy from a variety of sources to power homes, cabins, houseboats and light offices and can be used as energy backup. The system features an efficient 8k hybrid inverter/charger with a powerful Lithium Iron Phosphate 13.5kWh battery and is expandable. In addition, Lion POWERsave provides flexible modular solutions that can be customized to meet larger specific energy storage needs. It can be used indoor and outdoor, with power and capacity ranging from 30 kW/50 kWh to 1.5 MW/2.2 MWh. Custom POWERsave solutions can be used in a variety of settings and industries including utilities, police, military, hospitals, airports, schools, railroads and data centers.

“LionESS simplifies storing and utilizing energy, which enables customers to manage energy usage digitally at their fingertips,” states Zhenfang “Jim” Ge, Lion Energy’s founder and chairman of the board. “With LionESS, renewable energy and energy independence has never been easier or more viable as customers are able to determine the preferred source of energy as well as the best time to use stored energy for maximum efficiency, savings and green impact.”

Continue reading

Broad Reach Power Texas BESS project in construction, 2020. Image: Broad Reach Power.

Broad Reach Power has joined the ranks of companies active in the US battery storage industry to announce financing raises in excess of US$100 million in the past few weeks.

The clean energy project developer and independent power producer (IPP) said yesterday that it has secured US$160 million towards a portfolio of 18 operating battery energy storage system (BESS) projects.

Of those 18, 17 are in Texas and one is in California, both markets where Broad Reach Power is already active. They total 390MWh capacity, are all front-of-meter grid-scale assets in development and are equipped with lithium-ion batteries, which the company said come from a “diverse pool of manufacturers”.

Big names in mainstream finance Deutsche Bank, via its New York branch, and MUFG acted as Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners on the financing round. Broad Reach Power’s senior VP for financing and M&A Nitin Gupta described it as a “marquee debt financing transaction in the battery storage sector”.

It comes shortly on the heels of system integrator FlexGen raising US$100 million investment led by Dutch energy trading company Vitol and another system integrator, Powin Energy, raising US$135 million. Interestingly, Broach Reach Power CFO Josh Prueher was a founder of FlexGen and formerly its CEO, while Broad Reach Power’s CTO, Doug Moorhead, was previously FlexGen’s CTO and president.

Other recent big moves in US energy storage financing include the acquisitions of front-of-the-meter energy storage developers East Point Energy and esVolta by Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor and US sustainable infrastructure investment group Generate Capital respectively, both for undisclosed sums.

Energy-Storage.news first reported on Broad Reach Power in June 2020, as the company embarked on building a fleet of 10MW/10MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Texas. At the time, Broad Reach said it was also developing two 100MW/100MWh projects in the state to participate in the ERCOT wholesale market. It’s a fairly common strategy in the US to build projects of increasing size once roots are laid down in a particular state or regional transmission area’s wholesale market.

The company made good on that promise quickly, beginning construction of that 100MW pair in September of that year, before bringing them online just over a year later.

It expanded into California with a 100MWh project acquisition from Enel in November 2020, while supplier contracts it has publicly announced include a 118MWh supply deal from SYL Battery for its California project as well as a 900MWh deal with CATL for batteries for its Texas projects and a deal with Sungrow for power converters for the same Texas portfolio.

Broad Reach Power was valued at more than US$600 million late last year as asset management group Apollo’s affiliate Apollo Funds bought a 50% stake in the company. Apollo is also an investor into FlexGen.

Continue reading

King Mountain wind power plant, which was commissioned in 2000 and repowered four years ago. Image: Cielo Wind Power Corporation.

Startup Spearmint Energy has become the latest developer to acquire a large-scale battery storage project in Texas, marking the company’s first purchase.

Spearmint Energy said yesterday that it has bought Revolution, a 150MW project in West Texas from Con Edison Development, the developer arm of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, which is of course part of major US energy holding company Consolidated Edison.

Expected to come online in the second quarter of next year, Revolution will participate in Texas’ ERCOT wholesale market and will help to ease grid congestion and enable greater utilisation of renewable energy.

It will be located next to King Mountain Wind Farm, a 279MW facility with three utility offtakers commissioned at the beginning of this century in Upton County.

ERCOT has already been a hot target market for the battery storage industry due to its open merchant market design and Texas’ status as a renewable energy growth area for a few years, but recent events like Winter Storm Uri in February last year, natural gas price spikes and the queue of renewable energy projects vying for limited grid connection capacity have made it even hotter.           

In a Guest Blog for Energy-Storage.news earlier this month, Spearmint Energy CEO and founder Andrew Waranch made it clear just why Texas is in urgent need of energy storage.

Waranch noted that the state was “left stranded” as generation assets including coal, gas and wind turbines froze up and weaknesses in the grid were exposed in the Winter of 2021, arguing for the vital role energy storage could play in that situation.

It could also help alleviate overnight wind energy congestion as more power is often generated than can be used at that time. Alongside that, solar PV installations are growing, which is obviously great to see, but also means that if all the solar queued up in the state is built out, there could be a gap between generation and supply of as much as 20GW every evening at sunset, equivalent to 30% of Texas’ total demand.

Investing in energy storage should be a key pillar of overhauling and upgrading the “broken” power grid, not just in Texas, but across the whole US, Waranch concluded. Along with California, the other leading grid-scale battery storage market in the country, Texas could be an exemplar of where the grid is heading over the next 10 years, he wrote.

Spearmint is a newly launched renewable energy and energy storage company, focusing on project development for solar PV and batteries, contracting for energy storage offtake and trading renewable energy on its platform.

Texas grid highlights weaknesses that batteries can help fix

According to figures from trade group American Clean Power Association published a few days ago, the largest battery project to go online in the US in Q2 2022 by output was Vistra Energy’s 260MW/260MWh DeCordova project in Granbury near Dallas. DeCordova is also Texas’ biggest BESS so far.

Meanwhile reported US deployment figures for Q1 this year from analysis group Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables highlighted that the majority of grid-scale BESS deployments in that quarter were concentrated in Texas, along with California and Nevada.

Recent large-scale projects in development, completed or acquired in the state, as reported by Energy-Storage.news, include:

Those are just some of the projects covered by this site since mid-June and a look through the archives reveals dozens more since deployments began picking up speed and scale in the 2019-2020 timeframe.

Continue reading

Insurance impacts on nearly every aspect of creating a successful market for energy storage. Image: Altelium.

In Europe, energy storage is still held back by regulation, although Greece is a bit further ahead, specialist battery insurance group Altelium told Energy-Storage.news while discussing take-up of its new product.

The company has seen a “phenomenal response” to its new all-risk battery energy storage system (BESS) insurance solution, managing director Ed Grimston claimed.

The product was launched in May in partnership with MS Amlin Underwriting, as reported by Energy-Storage.news. Altelium said it is the world’s first data-driven BESS insured warranty programme and Grimston said the product has seen a lot of enquiries from the EV and storage space.

“In energy storage we’re being asked to consult on design and build because there is so much synergy with our due diligence and risk assessment for warranty programmes as well as OAR (operational all risk) and CAR (construction all risk) policies,” he said.

“In terms of use case for batteries in storage we’re looking at both first and second life, and although we were initially looking at just battery installations, we have seen interest in battery-solar and battery-wind. Our core focus is up to 30MW-sized BESS, although we’re also open to larger opportunities.”

In terms of geographies, Grimston highlights the UK, US, Australia, South Korea and India as the main sources of enquiries. Altelium is getting some from continental Europe too but the energy storage market there is still held back by regulation, he said, adding that Greece is a little further ahead.

“Post-Ukraine [invasion] the market has become more dynamic. Costs and uncertainties have gone up a great deal, and so the need to improve return from batteries and minimise risk has increased. Insurance is being taken more seriously and there is more focus on second life batteries as supply is such a massive issue,” he added.

The market’s interest in Altelium’s insurance products in general stems from, or is helped by, traditional insurance products’ lack of suitability for batteries used in storage.

“‘Traditional’ insurance products are based on market information, and this just isn’t an option for batteries, we haven’t seen the full life cycle of these products on the market to assess the risk, so there has to be a different approach,” he said.

“Our focus is on the battery health, and the safety and application of the systems that interface with the battery. Where we add value is that we can see whether a battery can be run harder, or is running too hard, or heading towards failure that may be preventable.”

Co-founder Charley Grimston wrote an article for our quarterly journal PV Tech Power in Q2 of this year, in which he laid out the importance of data-driven insurance products in de-risking and opening up the battery storage market.

Continue reading

These battery energy storage enclosures are operational at Scott Solar facility in Powhatan Count.

Dominion Energy Virginia has opened its largest operational battery energy storage pilot project, which was recently energized at the Scott Solar facility in Powhatan County. The company has two other battery storage pilot projects in its portfolio: a 2 MW battery in New Kent County that was commissioned in late February and a 2 MW battery in Hanover County that is scheduled to become operational later this year. All three projects were approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) in February 2020.

The three utility-scale battery storage pilot projects totaling 16 MW are the first of their kind in Virginia. Dominion Energy is using lithium-ion batteries, like those found in electric vehicles, to better understand how this emerging technology can be integrated into various applications to benefit our customers.

“Battery storage is an integral component to the clean energy transition in Virginia, supporting grid reliability for our customers during periods of high demand and by helping to fill gaps due to the inherent intermittency of solar and wind power,” says Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. “These battery systems will help us better understand how best to deploy utility scale batteries across our service territory to support our goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”

The three Central Virginia-based projects provide key information on distinct use cases for batteries on the energy grid. Annual updates on the pilots’ performance will be reported to the SCC.

Three independent 4-hour battery systems totaling 12 MW at the Scott Solar facility in Powhatan County will provide valuable information on the proficiency of battery technology to store energy generated from solar panels during periods of high production and release energy during periods when load is high or solar generation is low. It would also reveal how well a battery can optimize power production of the solar facility.

A 2 MW, 2-hour battery at a substation in the Town of Ashland, Hanover County will bolster the existing grid capacity to serve customers during times of high energy demand without the need to engage in wholesale equipment upgrades.

A 2 MW, 2-hour battery at a substation in New Kent County serving a 20 MW solar facility will demonstrate how batteries can help manage voltage and loading issues caused by reverse energy flow, to maintain stable power delivery to customers.

In addition to these three pilot projects, Dominion Energy has received regulatory approval from the Virginia SCC for the 20 MW Dry Bridge storage in Chesterfield County and 50 MW of storage at Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County.

Continue reading

Greenbacker Renewable Energy Co. LLC’s Graphite Solar project in Carbon County in Utah has entered commercial operation with developer rPlus Energies. With a power capacity of 104 MW DC / 80 MW AC, Graphite is now the largest operational asset in Greenbacker’s clean energy fleet.

“It’s very special that Graphite Solar can play a role in helping Carbon County diversify its contributions to the local energy infrastructure,” states Charles Wheeler, CEO of GREC. “A place with a long history of power production is now home to Greenbacker’s largest operating clean energy project.”

The project has begun delivering solar energy to the Meta (formerly Facebook) data center in nearby Eagle Mountain, Utah.

“Bringing new renewable energy and investment to communities where we operate is a priority for Meta,” comments Urvi Parekh, director of renewable energy at Meta. “We appreciate the partnership with rPlus and Greenbacker that is delivering this new solar energy to the Utah grid in support of our local operations.”

Graphite has a long-term power purchase agreement with PacifiCorp on behalf of Meta. The contract was developed under Rocky Mountain Power’s Schedule 34 green energy tariff, which helps sizable energy consumers source renewables to meet their clean energy targets.

“Rocky Mountain Power is committed to helping our customers, and the communities we serve, meet their renewable energy goals,” says Merlin Rushton, regional business manager in Price, Utah. “Projects like this are a demonstration of our company’s commitment to expand energy choices for our customers and manage the transition to a 21st Century electricity network.”

Greenbacker, rPlus, and Sundt Renewables (the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction contractor) have also invested in the community and its workforce with a scholarship program. The Local First Scholarship – Graphite Solar program provides $75,000 to students who reside in Carbon County and who plan to pursue their career goals locally after completing their certificate or degree.

“A lot of work, dedication, and collaboration has been made to get to this point,” adds Luigi Resta, rPlus Energies’ president and CEO. “We are immensely proud that we can contribute to the continuation of the energy legacy that is Carbon County.”

Greenbacker acquired Graphite Solar from rPlus in December 2020, contracting with the developer to manage the project through construction. Construction involved installing 1.5 miles of transmission lines and 257,700 solar modules.

Continue reading

The company’s commercial energy storage system prototype. Image: Voltstorage.

Vanadium flow battery storage system developer VoltStorage has raised €24 million (US$24.3 million) in a Series C, part of which will go to developing a new iron salt-based battery.

The Germany-based company has raised the capital from Cummins Inc., a large US corporation that develops and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products.

VoltStorage will use the money to develop a new iron salt-based flow battery and further its growth by developing larger-scale redox flow storage systems. Scaling up is the main challenge for the flow battery sector as the CEO of another provider, CellCube, explained to Energy-Storage.news recently.

The company appears to have changed strategy since a €6 million fundraise back in 2020, when it described itself as a company that “develops and produces solar energy storage systems for private homes.” At the time, its main product was Voltstorage SMART, which had a 1.5kW output and 6.2kWh capacity.

VoltStorage now says its its vanadium redox flow battery is mainly for commercial and agricultural uses, with no mention of residential or home use in a recent press release.

A low-cost iron salt battery, which its research and development team is currently working on, will be particularly suitable for ensuring base load capability for wind and solar farms, the company said.

The Series C builds on previous fundraising rounds which included investment from Korys, EIT InnoEnergy, Bayern Kapital, SOSV, Energie 360° and Business Angels led by Matthias Willenbacher.

Jennifer Rumsey, President and COO, Cummins Inc., commented: “We continue to make our products cleaner and by investing in VoltStorage, we are taking steps to also make the grid and energy storage greener as well.”

“It is now undisputed: energy storage systems are crucial for the conversion of the electric power supply to 100 percent renewables. With the newly acquired funding, VoltStorage will be able to provide the necessary technologies for this,” said VoltStorage CEO Jakob Bitner.

Continue reading

Joe Manchin at an event with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (left). Image: Joe Manchin’s office.

Hopes have been raised once again that US lawmakers could introduce an investment tax credit (ITC) for energy storage.

The US Build Back Better Act may have floundered, but the man blocking that, US Senator Joe Manchin, is backing the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation that includes climate mitigation and clean energy promoting measures.  

The tale of Manchin’s opposition to Build Back Better is long and has been told many times over by now. The new twist is that he and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have reached an agreement instead on the Inflation Reduction Act.

Key to the Virginia Democratic Senator’s change of stance on the act versus BBB – at least in Manchin’s own words – is that the Inflation Reduction Act focuses more on tax incentives rather than spending.

It will also be paid for by introducing a 15% minimum corporation tax rate and strengthening the IRS, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi describing Manchin and Schumer’s agreement on the bill as a “breakthrough” that retains many of the key tenets of President Biden’s proposals.

“Rather than risking more inflation with trillions in new spending, this bill will cut the inflation taxes Americans are paying, lower the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs, and ensure our country invests in the energy security and climate change solutions we need to remain a global superpower through innovation rather than elimination,” Manchin said in a statement yesterday.

The act also aims to cut the US deficit by more than US$300 billion while enabling a US$369 billion boost to energy security and action on the climate crisis at the same time.  

To quickly cut to the chase, for energy storage this brings the very welcome news that the investment tax credit (ITC) for standalone energy storage is included in the act, as it was in BBB.

The ITC, which is already applied to solar PV plants and to solar-plus-storage, has been described as a measure that would turbocharge the already rapidly growing energy storage market in the US.

It’s something the industry and clean energy advocates have pushed for, for several years, and would enable an immediate reduction in the capital cost of energy storage projects by something like 30%. According to analysis group Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables that could boost storage deployments by a quarter.

In addition to introducing tax credits for storage, existing tax credits on other clean energy tech like solar PV would get a 10-year extension, while around US$30 billion in loan and grant programmes would be available for states and utilities to “accelerate the transition to clean electricity,” according to a document summarising the act’s provisions.

While it’s a case of wait-and-see whether the act gets approval across the Democratic Party and then begins its arduous path to becoming law, meaning that what’s included at this stage cannot be taken for granted, the act also includes support for US-based manufacturing of technologies including batteries and for the transition to low-emissions vehicles.

Act welcomed but it’s a case of wait-and-see for industry

Jason Burwen, formerly acting CEO of the national Energy Storage Association (ESA), now VP for energy storage at the American Clean Power Association (which merged at the beginning of this year with the ESA), welcomed the act.

“Wow. The Inflation Reduction Act is a powerful US battery #energystorage supply chain strategy,” Burwen tweeted.

“Demand-drivers in #storageITC & EV tax credit adder for domestic batteries, supply-drivers in 10% PTC (production tax credit) for active electrode materials and US$35/kWh PTC for battery cell manufacturing.”

Burwen also noted that the act also includes thermal energy storage, which had been included in the Green New Deal but left out of Build Back Better, that utilities will be able to opt out of normalisation of ITCs for energy storage projects bigger than 500kW and that energy storage is explicitly included in the ITC adder for low-income community projects.

That said, various sources in the industry indicated that they won’t be holding their breath on the act passing just yet.

One said it was the beginning of another “rollercoaster” of policy ins and outs, another said they would believe it was happening only when Biden signed it into law, while another still said they expected a fairly long wait for that to happen either way.

President Biden himself described the act as “the action the American people have been waiting for,” from its aims to tackle high healthcare costs and inflation as well as investing in energy security for the future.

“If enacted, this legislation will be historic, and I urge the Senate to move on this bill as soon as possible, and for the House to follow as well,” Biden said.

Our sister site PV Tech also covered the news today, focusing on the provisions to support US solar manufacturing and other related topics.  

Continue reading

Statkraft’s 26MW Kelwin 2 battery storage site in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. Image: Statkraft.

Statkraft participated in what it says was the largest dispatch of energy from battery storage to the Ireland grid to-date, on 14 July.

Ireland today has around 650MW of energy storage online but this has mostly been used in frequency response services for system stability rather than helping security of supply, Statkraft said. Energy-Storage.news has covered significant examples of this in the past.

The island faces several challenges in securing adequate supply, including increasing unreliability of legacy power plants, high demand and the growth of energy-consuming data centres, which grid operator Eirgrid has estimated could account for 29% of energy usage by 2030.

Eirgrid has recently started to trial the use of energy storage to support the system at times of reduced margin and system stress.

On July 14th, when energy margins were tightest, Statkraft was called upon to provide over 60MWh of energy from its battery storage projects across two hours, followed by another, smaller dispatch two dates later for the same reason.

The Norway-headquartered company has two co-located battery storage units of its own in Ireland but also optimises the storage assets of many other owners using its automated trading optimisation platform Unity, equating to nearly 40% of the overall storage capacity on the island. This includes some 100MW of projects owned by investor Gore Street Capital and 68MW of energy company RWE’s.

Nick Heyward, Statkraft’s head of UK Storage – Markets, says: “It is a welcome development to see larger amounts of storage being dispatched to support Ireland’s electricity market at critical times. I am delighted that Statkraft was able to support such a significant demonstration of battery storage, and we look forward to seeing more of our customers’ assets contribute during the upcoming winter.”

“However, there is more to do before storage assets can participate more actively in wholesale markets, not just at times of system stress, to further support the low-carbon transition and to reduce overall costs for consumers. We look forward to working further with EirGrid and our customers in this area.”

Statkraft is majority-owned by the Norwegian state and is responsible for the majority of the Nordic country’s hydropower assets, its core business. But it also runs substantial solar and wind assets as well as gas and other technologies across Europe and optimises other owners’ assets too as with energy storage in Ireland.

While operating substantial pumped hydro energy storage assets, the company has a relatively limited portfolio of battery storage so far, limited to a handful of co-located assets in Ireland and Germany.

Continue reading