Rendering of Riverina 200MWh BESS project, one of many in development or proposed in New South Wales. Image: Edify.

The government of New South Wales in Australia has said the state’s single biggest ever investment in infrastructure will go towards enabling renewable energy additions across its networks.

The government of New South Wales’s (NSW’s) ruling Liberal Party made a series of announcements today ahead of unveiling its 2022-2023 State Budget on 21 June.

Among those, Treasurer and Minister for Energy Matt Kean said, will be A$1.2 billion (US$0.85 billion) of funding to fast-track the buildout and upgrading of transmission networks to accommodate huge, multi-gigawatt Renewable Energy Zones (REZ).

Kean announced that the first project to benefit will be the Waratah Super Battery, a 700MW/1,400MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) designed to act as a kind of ‘shock absorber’ and enable power lines to operate at high capacity.

In March, the NSW government opened a tender process for the project, which has also been touted as one of a number of new energy resources that can help replace Eraring coal plant, a 2,880MW generating station that owner Origin Energy wants to close by 2025.

Waratah Super Battery would go into service before the Eraring plant closes, while Origin Energy itself has said that another 700MW BESS the power company wants to build, along with a virtual power plant (VPP) with up to 2GW of connected resources, could further fill in that gap combined with growth in renewable energy generation.

If it were built today, the battery system would be the largest of its kind in Australia, with that title currently taken by the 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery BESS in the state of Victoria that went online at the beginning of this year.

Waratah Super Battery would alleviate transmission line constraints and increase capacity across New South Wales to send power to demand centre areas like Sydney and Newcastle.

REZ are ‘modern day power stations’

“Renewable Energy Zones are modern day power stations, providing cheap and clean power for the homes and business of NSW. This is the State’s largest ever investment in infrastructure for renewable energy and is expected to help create 2,700 direct construction jobs across the State,” Kean said.

The minister added that the A$1.2 billion invested by the state could unlock a further A$14 billion in private investment. There is also about 16GW of large-scale renewable energy capacity represented by 50 proposed projects that the government said may never get off the ground without the transmission network being improved and expanded to accommodate them.

Funding, through a designated so-called Transmission Acceleration Facility, would be a “critical step in unlocking the new generation needed to improve competition, lower power prices and secure a brighter future for households and business,” Kean said, especially in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and persistent unplanned outages at Australia’s existing coal fleet, which have contributed to electricity price rises.

“Fast-tracking the construction of renewable energy is the best way to reduce our exposure to these risks and take advantage of cleaner, cheaper power sources.”

 In February, sister site PV Tech reported that the NSW government received applications for nearly 40GW of renewable energy and energy storage projects for the state’s proposed Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), equating to about A$100 billion and including 24 solar PV farms and 35 BESS projects.

Similarly, a few weeks prior, about 34GW of proposals were received in a tender for another, the South-West NSW REZ, about 10 times the available capacity.

An article last year in Vol.28 of our quarterly technical journal, PV Tech Power, looked at how REZ plans across Australia could help restore investor confidence in the country’s renewable energy market, as well as the case for transmission upgrades and the likely impacts of state and Federal government policies.

On a related note, Energy-Storage.news has heard that at a targeted deployment of electricity storage for renewable energy could be an effective way for the Federal government to enable decarbonisation, while making networks robust and supply stable at lowest cost to the public.

A A$20 billion public corporation the new administration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party has promised to facilitate investment in infrastructure could perhaps be best directed to creating a Renewable Electricity Storage Target (REST) scheme, Bruce Mountain of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre (VEPC) told this site.

Continue reading

Image: CNW Group/Mitrex – Integrated Solar Technology

Mitrex, a Toronto-based manufacturer of integrated photovoltaics, has released its latest product, a photovoltaic noise barrier (PVNB) that offers a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) rating of up to 0.7 through ASTM C423 testing, solar power production and enhanced aesthetics for use on roads and highways.

In collaboration with Durisol and Silentium Group, Mitrex was able to bring to market a photovoltaic noise barrier that will energize highways throughout North America. The solar power produced by these noise barriers can be directly supplied and used by nearby infrastructure.

With a capacity of up to 22 W/SF on a single side (and 37.4 W/SF on a bi-facial barrier), these highway noise barriers transform roadways into energy generators while maintaining the structure’s functionality. On average, each kilometer will be a power plant generating over 1.2 MW of electricity. The PVNBs can even be offered in any design, including opaque and transparent options.

The Mitrex PVNB panels’ performance is comparable to existing absorptive noise barriers and their ability to reduce unwanted traffic noise.

Mitrex, Durisol and Silentium Group have begun working with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to assist in establishing product approval guidelines for this new technology by integrating Mitrex absorptive PVNB panels into existing MTO-approved noise wall system designs.

As these new guidelines are being established, both Durisol and Silentium Group have selected some of their existing noise barrier wall systems throughout North America to begin retrofitting them with Mitrex absorptive PVNB panel technology. These pilot projects with government entities are aimed to capture data and analyze the PVNBs.

“Partnerships like these allow us to decentralize energy and change the way we power our cities,” says Mitrex CEO Danial Hadizadeh. “We won’t stop here – we will continue to push the envelope to produce the next generation solar-integrated products. Cooperating with companies in other fields is where we can truly make a difference, and it’s essential to developing better, more efficient products and allows us to bring this technology to North America and beyond.”

Mitrex is a developer and manufacturer of solar-integrated BIPV materials such as facades, roofs, railings and windows. With roots in the construction industry and BIPVs, Mitrex is beginning to expand into road-integrated photovoltaics, with the ultimate goal of integrating solar into all surfaces with access to sunlight.

Continue reading

With the addition of an array at the Portland International Airport (PDX), Tigo Energy Inc., a Flex MLPE (Module Level Power Electronics) supplier, has reached a milestone achievement of 1 GW of dedicated rapid shutdown MLPE devices deployed across solar arrays worldwide. Oregon-based solar design and installation firm Elemental Energy designed and installed the airport array.

In support of the PDX airport’s sustainability goals and LEED certification, Elemental Energy used Tigo TS4-A-F rapid shutdown devices to complete a custom, 600-foot solar array on a new parking garage at the airport. The 75 kWp solar system leverages the Tigo TS4-A-F devices to enable rapid shutdown for fire safety. The PDX awning system also includes 400 W solar modules from Trina Solar and the Sunny Tripower CORE1 inverter from SMA.

“Our customer needed a reliable solution that mirrored their installed base of SMA products and met all current codes related to Rapid Shutdown, and Tigo had the solution to do both,” says Katie Martin, construction manager at Elemental Energy. “Tigo fulfilled all of the project’s goals with its inverter compatibility and rapid shutdown requirements. The modules installed beautifully under the custom awning structure and the Tigo TS4s worked like a charm with the SMA inverter.”

“With more than two and a half million dedicated rapid shutdown devices globally, our products deliver safe and reliable solar energy around the globe, and we are grateful to our inverter partners, module manufacturers, installers, distributors, and customers for helping us reach this milestone,” states Zvi Alon, chairman and CEO at Tigo Energy. “We look forward to continuing our work alongside partners like Elemental Energy as we help generate sustainable energy and deliver industry-leading compatibility and scale for solar installers everywhere.”

Continue reading

Peter Lehman (Image: Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center)

California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station’s 100% renewable energy, front-of-the-meter, multi-customer microgrid is fully operational in California. The new microgrid was developed through a partnership between the County of Humboldt, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, Schweitzer Engineering Labs, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, Tesla Inc., The Energy Authority, and TRC.

The Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid (RCAM) features a 2.2 MW solar photovoltaic array that is DC-coupled to a 2 MW (9 MWh) battery energy storage system, comprised of three Tesla Megapacks. It also includes a microgrid control system, with protection and isolation devices that interfaces directly with PG&E’s distribution control center.

The microgrid serves multiple functions and is managed in collaboration between project partners. The Schatz Energy Research Center is the prime contractor and technology integrator, leading the design, testing and deployment of the clean energy microgrid.

“The Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid has ushered in a new and exciting era for the electric grid in California,” says Peter Lehman, founding director of the Schatz Center and project lead. “With its successful deployment and the development of new microgrid agreements and tariffs, RCAM has become a role model and beacon to communities across the state who are striving to green their energy supply and bolster their resilience in the face of climate change.”

Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), the Community Choice Aggregator for the Humboldt Bay area, owns the two solar arrays and the battery energy storage system.

During standard blue-sky operations, RCAM generates clean energy for the North Coast and participates in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) wholesale energy markets, including the day-ahead, real-time and ancillary services markets.

By storing solar energy during the day and releasing it onto the grid as needed in the evening and during peak demand, RCAM enables greater utilization of solar, supports grid reliability and creates an economic model for future microgrids.

“RCEA’s goal is to provide our customers with 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2025, and 100 percent local carbon-free electricity by 2030. This project is a major milestone for our clean energy and resilience efforts,” states Matthew Marshall, executive director of RCEA, which works closely with schools, fire departments, tribes and other local agencies to support community resilience across the North Coast.

PG&E owns, operates and maintains the microgrid circuit and controls the microgrid during “islanded” operation. In the event of a broader grid outage, the clean-energy microgrid provides indefinite power for the 19 connected customers by disconnecting or “islanding” from the broader grid when needed and becoming an independent, PG&E-operated grid segment. This ensures that airport flight service and rescue operations continue without interruption.

“The Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid represents the culmination of many years of research, innovation and collaboration by the world’s leading microgrid experts,” comments Jason Glickman, PG&E’s executive vice president of engineering, planning and strategy. “Thanks to this team’s smart work, microgrids now play a key role in PG&E’s ongoing efforts to harden our electrical system and enhance local grid resilience throughout Northern and Central California. We know how much our customers and communities need reliable energy, and this system not only increases local reliability, it also serves as the foundation for a replicable and scalable model for widely deploying multi-customer microgrids across PG&E’s service area. This gives communities a new tool in securing their resilience and clean energy goals.”

The regional California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV) is in McKinleyville, Calif., and serves the greater North Coast community with over 50,000 flights per year, including commercial airline, private and emergency medical flights. Adjacent to the airport, the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay provides search and rescue for 250 miles of rural coastline, from the Mendocino-Sonoma County line to the California-Oregon border.

Roads into Humboldt County are frequently closed by fires and mudslides, making air services a critical factor in regional emergency response.

“The California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV) is a lifeline to our community every day by keeping Humboldt County connected to the world alongside our partners at United Airlines, Avelo Airlines, American Airlines, REACH/Cal-Ore Life Flights, U.S. Coast Guard-Sector Humboldt Bay and many others,” says Cody Roggatz, Humboldt County’s director of aviation. “RCAM ensures that we can continue to keep that lifeline open through energy resilience, no matter what happens to the power grid.”

Research and development for the microgrid was supported through California’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) – a statewide, customer-funded program that enables PG&E, other California investor-owned utilities and the California Energy Commission to execute emerging technology demonstration and deployment projects that address important grid needs. EPIC plays a role in helping drive the innovation needed to meet California’s policy and clean energy goals while also ensuring the safe, reliable and affordable operation of the grid.

The collaboration between RCAM project partners has informed technical and policy innovations including the development of the Community Microgrid Enablement Tariff and PG&E’s Community Microgrid Enablement Program (CMEP).

To date, PG&E has engaged with more than three dozen communities and customers to explore potential financial and infrastructure support options for developing microgrids and resilience solutions through the CMEP.

Additionally, PG&E, along with Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric, are developing the Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP), leveraging a $200 million statewide fund dedicated to the development of clean energy microgrids supporting the critical needs of vulnerable populations and disadvantaged communities. The companies anticipate launching this program in late 2022.

Together, the MIP and PG&E’s CMEP provide comprehensive financial support for both the distributed energy resources and other costs necessary to develop and energize a microgrid, as well as the distribution upgrades necessary to enable the safe islanding of the microgrid.

The Schatz Center is partnering with several tribes in Northern California to support their clean energy, resilience and climate response efforts. Cal Poly Humboldt also recently began design of a renewable energy microgrid to support campus resilience through clean generation. This microgrid will be part of the university’s sustainability framework, and will enable students in engineering, environmental sciences and other programs to gain hands-on experience with innovative climate-friendly technologies.

Continue reading

Aerial view of Staten Island, New York, where the BESS projects will be located. Image: Doc Earls/WikiCommons.

Community solar owner-operator Summit Ridge has secured US$15 million in project financing for two battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totalling 31MWh in New York City, US.

The proceeds will fund the construction of two lithium-ion BESS projects in Staten Island, New York City, Summit Ridge’s first energy storage projects and ‘the first of many’, the company said. It expects to have a storage portfolio of 100MWh by next year.

Fundamental Renewables, formerly MMA Energy Capital, is providing the financing through two loans which bring its total financing to Summit Ridge to US$765 million to-date.

The two systems will have a combined capacity of 31MWh though the press release does not specify the power. But it is likely to be under 10MW, as the two projects have been awarded a block incentive through the NYSERDA Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program, which provides funding for commercial customers installing stationary energy storage systems of under 5MW.

Energy-Storage.news has approach Fundamental and Summit Ridge for more details and will update this story in due course.

The BESS projects will also operate under New York’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) tariff, which is the state’s mechanism to compensate energy generated by DER resources including solar and storage.

Brian Dunn, COO of Summit Ridge, said: “The battery storage space is an exciting new frontier in the renewable energy sector and an important part of that transition. We look forward to leveraging our expertise as we continue acquiring and developing a network of community solar and battery storage facilities across the country.”

Fundamental Renewables is the renewable and clean energy investment arm of Fundamental Advisors LP. It was acquired by Fundamental Advisors in August 2021 and provided a $500 million loan to Pine Gate Renewables, a developer that has recently shown a significant interest in non-lithium battery technologies, in January this year.

Continue reading

The 250MW hydro power plant being built in Hatta, in the UAE has almost reached the halfway completion. Image: DEWA.

State utility Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has neared the halfway completion mark of the pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) it is building in the United Arab Emirates.

Located east of Dubai in the vicinity of Hatta, the facility will have a storage capacity of 1,500MWh with 250MW output.

Considered as the first station of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) according to DEWA, the project as an investment of AED1.421 billion (US$387 million) and has reached 44% completion in the last few days, the utility said.

The power plant will have a turnaround efficiency of 78.9% and a response to demand for energy within 90 seconds.

The upper dam’s first 37 metre-high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall has already been completed and with work now currently underway on the 70 metre main dam wall.

Once completed, the power station will use water in the Hatta dam with an upper dam being built in the mountain to be connected via a 1.2 kilometre long subterranean tunnel, which is currently in construction.

As with other pumped hydro plants, the water will pass through turbines as it falls from one body of water to the other, generating electricity from the energy stored. Water will be pumped back up as the system ‘charges,’ using power generated by the 1GW Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park currently under construction.

Last year, Energy-Storage.news reported that Hitachi Energy (then known as Hitachi ABB Power Grids) is providing grid connection equipment and systems to ANDRITZ Hydro, the specialist contractor executing the project.

Moreover, DEWA is also building a 5.4km-long cable car route to create a tourist hotspot at the mountain’s top and around the dams with the creation of a natural waterfall that will use the slope of the Hatta dam. The PHES is expected to go into service in early 2024.

Projects involving PHES technology have had a fair share of announcements in the past months, with projects all around the world including Jamaica, Spain, India and Australia.

Continue reading

JinkoSolar battery rack (left) and ESS cabinet (right). Image: JinkoSolar.

Vertically integrated solar PV manufacturer JinkoSolar has signed a distribution agreement for its battery energy storage solutions with a Nigeria-headquartered business systems integrator.

JinkoSolar is one of the handful of companies dubbed the Solar Module Super League by our colleagues at PV Tech for their standing in the PV module market.

The company launched its own range of energy storage system (ESS) products in 2021, with battery systems aimed at residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility-scale markets, equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

JinkoSolar said yesterday (8 June) that it has entered a “distribution strategic agreement” with Palette Business Solutions to distribute the range from Palette’s Nigerian offices.

“Our distribution network in Nigeria consists of committed resellers, professional installers, and a competent support team,” Palette’s head, whose name was given as Charles, said in a JinkoSolar press release.

“Palette commenced business in 2010 to fight the devastating effects of climate change and strive to create the awareness and use of solar energy through its distribution in delivering clean uninterrupted electricity to serve the rural and urban communities.”

Palette’s website lists Jinko ESS units for sale or distribution from 3.5kW/7.2kWh up to 10kW/25kWh. JinkoSolar’s ESS come with on-grid and off-grid functionality, which the China-headquartered manufacturer said makes the equipment suitable for various parts of Africa that are not connected to a grid or have a weak grid.

JinkoSolar’s general manager for the region, Jaffer Wang, said the company had seen a surge in electricity demand on the African continent, “which has outstripped electricity produced by suppliers”.

“Together with Palette, we firmly believe our ESS solutions will bring new development opportunities to Nigeria and make renewable electricity accessible and affordable to every household and factories in Nigeria,” Wang said.

JinkoSolar signed another ESS distribution agreement with an African partner last month. Solar and energy storage distributor Must Zimbabwe agreed to distribute 100MWh of the LFP systems.

Just a few days before that, its first European deal was announced, with distributor Memodo taking products including Jinko’s all-in-one ESS system, stackable low-voltage and high-voltage storage system components and a single or three-phase hybrid inverter, into Germany, Switzerland and Austria in 2022 and 2023.

Another Chinese Solar Module Super League member, Trina Solar, has also launched LFP battery storage systems in the past year or so, with its subsidiary Trina Storage announcing the successful supply of an integrated grid-scale ESS to a project in Cambridgeshire, England.

Continue reading

Another clean power project in Sonoma’s portfolio being inaugurated four years ago. Image: Sonoma Clean Power.

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Sonoma Clean Power has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with financing company Luminia for a co-located project with 32MWh of energy storage.

Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) has signed the deal with Luminia for the development of the 75-acre project which pairs 11.6MW solar PV farm and 8MW/32MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Sonoma, northern California. Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2023, for which the late stage development is being managed by Luminia and Kenwood Investments.

CCAs are a type of utility founded to allow electricity consumers to select which generation sources their power comes from while still using the transmission and distribution (T&D) networks of California’s main investor-owned utilities. Many have clean power mandates and PPAs signed by such groups have been a part of the growth story of renewable and storage resources in the state in recent years. Read more about them here.

Upon completion, SCP will dispatch the energy from the co-located site to its EverGreen premium service customers in Sonoma and adjoining Mendocino counties. EverGreen is SCP’s renewables-only electricity service, the only truly 24/7 renewable generation service in the US, it claims. It uses solar and geothermal resources from the two counties and the service requires a $0.025/kWh premium which works out to $13 extra a month on average.

Deb Emerson, managing director of procurement for SCP said: “With this solar and storage project we can provide renewable energy on-demand, regardless of the time of day, and promote 100 percent carbon-free energy generated right here in Sonoma County.”

The PPA followed a request for proposals (RFP) in June 2021 by SCP, followed by an exclusivity agreement for the project with Luminia four months later. The finished project will tie into a nearby electrical substation.

Continue reading

The shift represents a break with Illinois’ historic past, as pictured in a 1915 book, ‘Coal mining in Illinois’. Image: Internet Archive Book Images via Flickr (Public Domain).

Power generation companies that have committed to building battery energy storage facilities at former coal power plant sites in the US state of Illinois will get US$280.5 million in grants.

The Senate of Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, committing the state to reaching 50% renewable energy by 2040 and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, in September 2021.

Part of that legislation focused on transitioning away from coal and created a Coal to Solar programme, also known as the Coal to Solar and Storage Initiative, with grant funding of up to US$110,000 per megawatt of energy storage capacity, capped at US$28.05 million per year.

Five projects have been selected and were announced at the beginning of this month. Grants will be paid out over a 10-year term. As shown in the table below, three 37MW energy storage projects were chosen alongside two 72MW projects, with the companies behind the smaller projects getting US$40.7 million each per site and US$79.2 million for the larger ones.

Grant awarded toCountyAmount awarded (10-year term)Project size NRG Midwest Storage, LLC (NRG) – Waukegan Energy Storage CenterLakeUS$79.2 million72MWNRG Midwest Storage, LLC (NRG) – Will County Energy Storage CenterWillUS$79.2 million72MWDynegy Midwest Generation, LLC (Vistra) – Havana Battery Energy Storage SystemMasonUS$40.7 million37MWElectric Energy, Inc. (Vistra) – Joppa Battery Energy Storage SystemMassacUS$40.7 million37MWIllinois Power Resources Generating, LLC (Vistra) – Edwards Battery Energy Storage SystemPeoriaUS$40.7 million37MW

Shortly after the Coal to Solar scheme was unveiled last year, Vistra Energy welcomed it, noting that while the power producer had only acquired its Illinois coal fleet in 2018, it was already planning its closure by 2027 at the latest.

Vistra CEO Curt Morgan applauded the state’s strong leadership on the “first-in-the-nation program to transition the state’s fleet of legacy coal plant sites into zero-emission, renewable energy centres,” while highlighting the transition process needs to be smooth for the local economy and workers.

Each of the coal plant sites are already closed or are in the process of closing, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which is overseeing the energy storage portion of the transition programme. Only coal-burning plant sites with a 150MW or higher generation capacity were eligible.

“Energy storage is absolutely crucial to ensuring a smooth transition as more clean energy sources come online and we look forward to implementing the Coal-to-Solar Energy Storage program which shores up our electrical grid, helps the environment and strengthens the economy,” Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) director Sylvia I. Garcia said.

Meanwhile the Illinois Power Agency, which is responsible for oversight of electricity planning and procurement processes for residential and small commercial customers of the state’s three major utilities, will create a scheme to incentivise solar production with co-located battery storage.

Vistra Energy has said that in addition to its three standalone battery storage sites which are receiving the grants, it plans a further six solar-plus-storage projects at other Illinois coal plant sites. The company said it only selected sites for standalone BESS development that were found to be unsuitable to also host solar PV.

First payments to the power producers will be made in 2025, by which time the five storage plants are scheduled to open. “When it comes to Illinois’ clean energy future, this initiative will help deliver on the progress our residents deserve,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said.

Continue reading

2021 infographic on the project. Image: Mitsubishi Power Americas.

Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project, claimed as the largest green hydrogen storage hub planned globally, will get US$504.4 million loan funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The DOE’s Loan Programs Office said yesterday that it has closed on the half-billion-dollar loan guarantee for the planned facility in Utah, which will combine 220MW of alkali electrolysers with storage capacity in vast salt caverns with 4.5-million-barrel capacity.

The Loans Program Office (LPO), which reopened in the early weeks of President Joe Biden’s term with solar industry veteran Jigar Shah at the helm, offered the loan in late April this year, after inviting the project’s co-development partners Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development to apply, just under a year before that in May 2021.

While the initial invite had said up to US$595 million could be on the table, it appears the figure settled on is nearly a hundred million dollars less for the very long-duration – or seasonal – energy storage plant.

Project information from Mitsubishi Power Americas said the hub would take excess renewable energy from sources including wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric.

Hydrogen created from those sources will then be used as fuel in a combined cycle power plant by Utah utility cooperative Intermountain Power Agency.

That means the hydrogen (H2) will be blended with natural gas, but the project partners aim to have the power plant, called IPP Renewed, running fully on H2 by the year 2045, increasing the proportion of hydrogen to hag incrementally over time.

The initial aim is to have the 840MW hybrid power plant running on 30% hydrogen by 2025 when the hydrogen hub comes online.

Rendering of the project with cutaway showing the salt caverns underneath. Image: Advanced Clean Energy Storage I/Mitsubishi Power Americas.

In an interview with Energy-Storage.news earlier this year, Mitsubishi Power Americas SVP for energy storage Tom Cornell said that it is likely the transition to 100% green hydrogen can actually be achieved much earlier, sometime between 2030 and 2035.

As well as enabling decarbonisation, the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project is also being built as a replacement for a retiring 1,800MW coal power plant near the area of Delta, Utah, where the facility will be sited.

The project will create up to 400 jobs during the construction phase and 25 permanent jobs once it is completed and commissioned.

The Loan Programs Office said that the climate benefits of the project include allowing much more renewable energy to be used that would otherwise be curtailed and lost and contributing to grid stabilisation.

“I’m pleased to see DOE support Utah’s efforts to become a world leader in hydrogen. This is not only a win for Millard County and Utah, but it is also an important step toward developing new energy technologies as we utilise an ‘all of the above’ approach to meet our energy demands,” Utah Senator Mitt Romney said.

It marks the first new loan issued by the office in nearly a decade. From its total budget, thought to be in the range of US$40 billion over four years, around US$3 billion was set aside for Innovative Clean Energy Projects. The Utah project’s funding has come from this pot and that means about US$2.5 billion remains.

In April, as the conditional commitment for the loan guarantee was announced, the LPO said it had also offered a conditional commitment to lend US$107 million towards the development of a battery graphite factory in Louisiana. That plant is being built by Syrah Technologies, which reportedly already has an off-take deal with Tesla for its EV batteries.

“Accelerating the commercial deployment of clean hydrogen as a zero-emission, long-term energy storage solution is the first step in harnessing its potential to decarbonise our economy, create good paying clean energy jobs and enable more renewables to be added to the grid,” US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said of the US$504 million loan guarantee.

The project is also in-line with Department of Energy aims to help lower the cost of hydrogen technologies as well as lowering the cost of energy storage capacity, especially for long-duration applications.

Earlier this week, the DOE also said it intends to leverage US$8 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which the Biden-Harris Administration successfully passed, to fund regional hydrogen hubs around the US.  

The department said hydrogen is crucial to its strategy for achieving the country’s decarbonisation targets of a 100% carbon-free electricity grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Continue reading