Gesa Quistorf

Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) is collaborating with ABB to develop a large mobile grid simulator as part of the Mobil-Grid-CoP project, which is publicly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. It will be used for testing the safety and reliability of renewable energy equipment, such as wind turbines, solar power and hydroelectric generators, in real-world conditions. The test program will verify that a renewable project connecting to a public power network is fully compliant with stringent local grid codes and will not compromise grid performance and stability.

The mobile grid simulator will use the ACS6080 Power Electronics Grid Simulator (PEGS) technology developed by ABB to create an artificial power grid on site. Fraunhofer IWES, a Germany-based research and testing institute specializing in wind energy and energy system technology, will use the system to simulate different grid operating modes, including fault conditions, as well as validating compliance with all standards. The mobile capability will also enable testing of the growing number of offshore wind turbines that are pushing current test facilities and procedures to their limits.

Its flexible and modular structure allows for almost unlimited configuration potential. In addition to its practical testing application, the mobile simulator will play an important role in research and development, particularly for various “grid-of-the-future” scenarios.

“We need to ensure that power grids maintain total stability and performance while integrating ever increasing amounts of intermittent renewables like wind and solar,” says Gesa Quistorf, group manager of power electronics and grid integration at Fraunhofer IWES. “Our new mobile grid simulator will play a vital role in accelerating this program, as we will be able to provide compliance testing for the ever-increasing number of large offshore turbines that are pushing current test facilities to their limits. In addition, it is prepared for testing low-frequency high-voltage AC railway applications.”

“As part of our drive towards a low-carbon society, increasing the availability of renewable energy equipment for use within the power grid is key,” states Chris Poynter, division president of ABB System Drives. “We also need to establish how to operate this equipment as safely, reliably and of course, energy efficiently as possible – this is where the extensive testing capabilities of the mobile grid simulator will add huge value.”

When it commences operation in 2023, the mobile grid simulator will be the largest of its kind in the world. It will have a power rating of up to 28 megavolt ampere (MVA) and a short time capability of up to 80 MVA. For additional flexibility, it will also be able to operate as two independent units of 14 MVA. In addition to the PEGS technology, the full package solution delivered by ABB will include transformers, filters, e-houses, cooling equipment, and power and auxiliary distribution equipment.

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Mark Babcock

Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. is partnering with software provider OpenSolar to provide its installer network with Maxeon’s SunPower Design software tool. Maxeon’s installer network can design proposals in a matter of minutes. Maxeon’s SunPower Design complements the new suite of tools available to installers affiliated with Maxeon.

“The new digital tools are the cornerstone of our customer-centric business transformation, focused on providing a better experience as well as simplifying the buying process for our trusted channel partners,” says Mark Babcock, chief revenue officer of Maxeon Solar Technologies. “We are working hard to deliver a comprehensive, easy-to-use platform to service our channel partners’ most pressing needs and solve their pain points so that they can focus on their core business. We expect our digital toolkit to become, release after release, a true virtual assistant for our installers, delivering the right information at the right time to gain efficiency in their sales, procurement and installation processes.”

In addition to Maxeon’s SunPower Design, the first release of this new suite includes advanced education programs, integrated online ordering including logistics updates, as well as marketing tools and branded merchandise.

“The combined effort with OpenSolar in particular allows us to offer industry-leading software specifically customized to emphasize the value that our premium panel technology can deliver to end customers in the long term, further helping our partners to differentiate from the competition,” states Ralf Elias, chief product officer of Maxeon Solar Technologies. “We expect OpenSolar capabilities to enable us to quickly deploy a new powerful tool to hundreds of installers globally and help them to scale fast in such a pivotal time for the energy transition.”

“The strength and market-leading accuracy of the OpenSolar platform is perfectly suited to support Maxeon and its network of installers,” comments Andrew Birch, co-founder at OpenSolar. “The customization capabilities we’ve built ensure that all the benefits of SunPower technology from Maxeon can be accurately modeled and presented to the end customer.”

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Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk business, welcomes Canadian Solar as a development partner for its Lens decision intelligence platform, which delivers live data across the industrial landscapes of every global economy.

The platform helps companies rapidly visualize, value, model and optimize energy assets, portfolios and companies. Integration of renewable and conventional power sources in a single interface, drawing from Wood Mackenzie’s commercial intelligence on the world’s natural resources sector, transforms how Lens Power customers drive investment strategy decisions and ignite growth plans.

“Battery storage capacity and hybrid solar-storage are on steep growth trajectories, as organizations look to capture the energy produced from renewable technologies to meet peak demand for electricity,” states Joe Levesque, co-president for Wood Mackenzie. “Canadian Solar is an important development partner for us, as it is in a unique and specialized position as a solar PV manufacturer and a large-scale solar and energy storage project developer. The insights its team will provide will further support our delivery of key data in what is an increasingly high activity segment, at a time of significant pressure in others.”

“Energy storage technology will be a critical enabler of the solar PV market going forward,” says Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. “Understanding the hybrid solar-storage project economics will give us a growth advantage to develop cost-effective, end-to-end integrated dispatchable solar energy solutions.”

Lens Power offers an integrated, 30-year view of global power markets supply, demand, cost and energy price forecasts alongside high-fidelity geospatial data including solar irradiance and transmission infrastructure. As Wood Mackenzie continues to integrate real-time and historic nodal congestion and price data, Lens Power will provide insight into greenfield site selection and asset optimization. Among Lens initiatives is Wood Mackenzie’s collaboration with early adopters to design a power solution that provides a holistic understanding of what is happening in the world of energy, allowing organizations to improve profitability and minimize risk.

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A distribution-level battery energy storage system (BESS) in Michigan utility Consumers Energy’s service area. Image: Consumers Energy.

Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer has unveiled a state roadmap to achieving environmental goals, with a 4,000MW energy storage by 2040 deployment target included.

It would make Michigan the latest US territory to adopt energy storage deployment targets or goals, with Maine, Connecticut and Virginia among the other recent joiners of that particular club, while New York increased its target at the beginning of this year to 6GW by 2030, double what was originally in place.

The Michigan Healthy Climate Plan, launched officially on 21 April, seeks to guide the state towards carbon neutrality by 2050, with interim 2030 targets. Also in focus are improvements and standards for air and water quality.

It would also help create new and well-paid employment in the state while respecting Michigan’s natural landscape and the custodianship of native tribes, the governor said as the plan was presented at a visit to a large-scale solar PV power plant.

“Michigan has been impacted by climate change, from a polar vortex and historic floods to dam breaks and week-long power outages,” Governor Whitmer said.

“The MI Healthy Climate Plan identifies actions we can take to address climate change head-on, lower costs for Michiganders, ensure every Michigan worker has a good-paying, sustainable job, and every family has clean air, water, and a home powered by clean, reliable energy.”

An interim 1,000MW energy storage target, to be achieved by 2025, will be put in place.

The Healthy Climate Plan was created through a consultative process with a range of Michigan citizens and experts in various fields.

The target for energy storage was actually part of a specific roadmap for energy storage and promoting its role in the energy and environmental transition of the state, as reported by Energy-Storage.news in March as that document was published.

Alongside the targets, Michigan will also seek to evaluate how state Building Codes can and should be adapted to enable the commercial and industrial (C&I) use of smart energy technologies, with energy storage included in that definition.

The Michigan electric grid urgently needs greening: the power sector was responsible for 40% of in-state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 while in 2020, 59% of electricity used came from coal and gas. The state is now introducing a 50% by 2030 renewable energy standard.

Planning and siting for renewable energy projects and upgrades to the transmission network and heating and transport infrastructure will all be overhauled with the state’s goals in mind as well as concentrating on environmental justice and not overburdening the poorest in society. Coal-fired generation will cease to be used by 2030, if not before.

Last week, sister site PV Tech reported that Michigan utility Consumers Energy will deploy 550MW of energy storage – with an interim 75MW by 2030 to get the ball rolling – alongside 8GW of new solar PV by 2040. Consumers Energy is also targeting its own exit from coal by 2025 in a Clean Energy Plan which has been agreed upon by the utility with a coalition of customer groups.

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One of First Solar Inc.’s manufacturing plants

Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) and First Solar Inc. have signed an additional multi-year framework supply agreement, through which First Solar will provide LRE with 1 GW DC of advanced, ultra-low carbon thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. LRE will deploy these modules across its 20 GW solar development and construction pipeline in the U.S. over 2023 and 2024.

This latest agreement expands LRE’s order book with First Solar to over 3 GW of modules that are estimated to enable the build of 18 new sites from 2022-2024. First Solar’s responsibly produced advanced thin film PV modules are designed and developed at its research and development centers in California and Ohio.

“We are pleased to build on our strong relationship with First Solar and support the expansion of domestic solar manufacturing,” says Eran Mahrer, chief strategy officer at LRE. “This agreement creates significant growth opportunities bringing stability, predictability and diminished risk from geopolitical tensions to our solar module supply chain, and by extension to our finance, construction and offtake partners. We look forward to working closely with First Solar and other U.S.-based component manufacturers as we aggressively expand our solar portfolio.”

“Sophisticated project developers such as LRE are looking to secure their development portfolios by partnering with a module supply partner that offers a reliable, clean energy solution with a long-term agreement structure,” comments Georges Antoun, chief commercial officer at First Solar. “First Solar is able to meet this need by delivering a competitive, high-quality, responsibly produced solar module. We are delighted LRE recognizes the value in our eco-efficient solar modules that are advancing the fight against climate change, and we look forward to playing a role in growing their solar platform.”

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Rendering of the Edwards Sanborn solar-plus-storage project in Kern County, California. It will have a 2,445MWh battery storage system, one of the biggest in the world, though only 28% of this is part of PG&E’s procurement. Image: Terra-Gen / CPA.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved new projects by the state’s three investor-owned utilities, including nine battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities proposed by PG&E totalling 1.6GW/6.4GWh.

The CPUC has approved the projects which were proposed by PG&E in January in response to an order to procure 11.5GW of clean energy capacity, under the CPUC’s internal resource planning process.

They will also partially contribute towards a portion of additional resources for Summer Reliability Targets for 2022 and 2023, a requirement enacted in December 2021 after extreme weather events that year placed a strain on the grid.

The resources have to come online between 2023 and 2026 but PG&E expects these nine (which total 1,598.7MW to be exact) will be fully operational by June 2024.

They are all four-hour lithium-ion, stand-alone, transmission-connected BESS projects ranging from 80MW/320MWh to the the largest, Vistra’s 350MW/1,400MWh extension to Moss Landing, already the world’s largest BESS.

The nine BESS projects by PG&E

Project nameDeveloper/OwnerOutput/CapacityLocation Online dateBeaumont Energy StorageTerra-Gen100MW/400MWhBeaumont, Riverside CountyAugust 2023Edwards Sanborn Energy StorageTerra-Gen169MW/676MWhMojave, Kern CountyAugust 2023Canyon Country Energy StorageTerra-Gen80MW/320MWhSanta Clarita, LA CountyOctober 2023MOSS350Vistra350MW/1400MWhMoss Landing, Monterey CountyAugust 2023Inland Empire Energy StorageStrata Clean Energy100MW/400MWhRialto, San Bernadino CountyApril 2024Corby Energy StorageNextEra Energy125MW/500MWhVacaville, Solano CountyJune 2024Kola Energy StorageNextEra Energy275MW/1,100MWhTracy, Alameda CountyJune 2024Nighthawk Storage Tenaska 300MW/1,200MWhPoway, San Diego County June 2024 Caballero Energy StorageOrigis99.7MW/398.8MWhNipomo, San Luis Obispo County June 2024

All nine will provide power to the California ISO (CAISO) grid under a Long-Term Resource Adequacy Agreement contract with a lifetime of 15 years. Resource Adequacy is CAISO’s programme to ensure the grid has enough capacity to deliver power to customers. The state aims to have a carbon-free grid by 2045.

PG&E procured the sites through a competitive tender process using net market value (NMV) and other qualitative factors like being located in a disadvantaged community.

BESS projects in The Golden State are now primarily making money through Resource Adequacy and wholesale energy trading, with an installed capacity of nearly 3GW and a frequency response market of only 500MW.

The CPUC has also approved the 2020 energy storage plans for all three investor-owned utilities, PG&E, SDG&E and SCE (Southern California Edison) which has seen them procure 1,325MW of power in response to Assembly Bill 2514, to come online by the end of 2024. SCE and PG&E have procured 580MW each while SDG&E has procured 165MW.

The CPUC has also authorised two clean energy programmes from SCE: a home energy storage pilot funded at US$5 million and a heat pump programme funded at US$13.9 million.

The commission also approved changes to SCE’s 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with two combined cycle gas power plants from AES. The agreement will provide an additional 49.5MW of power capacity and 16.5 MW of energy and ancillary services at no additional cost, the commission said.

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Art of shredding: Li-Cycle’s Spoke facilities begin the process of recycling batteries by shredding them down before hydrometallurgical separation of the materials. Image: Li-Cycle.

Li-Cycle has been selected as preferred battery recycling partner to both LG Chem and LG Energy Solution for their North America operations.

The lithium-ion battery recycling specialist’s deal with the Korean companies includes an agreement to off-take battery manufacturing scrap to be fed into Li-Cycle’s ‘Spoke’ facilities, which shred and then process used batteries and scrap into the black mass which contains critical battery materials like nickel, manganese, cobalt and of course lithium.

Li-Cycle has two types of recycling plant – the Spokes which create the black mass from batteries and scrap and the ‘Hubs’ which then turn that black mass into battery-grade materials for reuse. The company has Spokes already in operation or under development strategically located around the US and Canada and is building a large Hub in Upstate New York.

Announced last week, the tie-up with the LG companies also marks the closing of an agreement by LG Chem and LG ES to make a US$50 million investment into the recycler, as well as confirming the pair’s 10-year supply deal to purchase recycled nickel sulphate, which Energy-Storage.news reported last December.

The LG Group companies will make a US$25 million equity investment, joining the likes of Koch Industries subsidiary Koch Strategic Platforms as a backer of Canada-headquartered Li-Cycle. KSP committed last year to investing US$100 million.

Li-Cycle listed on the NYSE in August 2021 following a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger and is one of a growing number of companies eyeing both the business opportunity and sheer need for effective battery recycling value chains as demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESS) rapidly continues to grow.

Li-Cycle CEO and co-founder Ajay Kochhar said that together the three companies have created a “milestone closed-loop ecosystem in the lithium-ion battery supply chain”.

That “interest in closed loop” across the battery industry and the industries that rely on batteries has accelerated, leading to rapid growth for Li-Cycle, chief commercial officer (CCO) Kunal Phalpher told Energy-Storage.news in an interview.

The public listing helped raise capital to fuel that growth, and Li-Cycle reported a 277% year-on-year growth in its quarterly revenues in Q1 2022, reaching US$3.8 million compared to around a million dollars in Q1 2021. It ended the first quarter of this year with US$522 million cash, largely thanks to the listing.

Battery recycling opportunity needs an all-hands-on-deck approach

Phalpher noted that while a lot of end-of-life batteries are expected to come into the market towards the latter part of this decade, manufacturing scrap of the type covered by the deals with LG Chem and LG ES will make up a lot of the feedstock for recyclers in the next three to five years.

In the long run, Phalpher said, the market for batteries and therefore recycling will grow “exponentially”. While Li-Cycle already has a number of competitors in the field in North America such as Redwood Materials and Ascend Elements, the competition is welcome, he said.

Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel recently told a US Senate committee hearing that his company’s facility in Nevada close to the Tesla-Panasonic battery gigafactory already takes on about 6GWh of batteries for recycling each year.

Not only will the market be too large for any one company to dominate entirely, the critical need for battery materials, both recycled and newly extracted, means it is a task which requires an all-hands-on-deck approach with commitments from multiple stakeholders.

However, in terms of gaining a foothold into the market and holding onto market share, now is a “critical time to develop partnerships with the large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be their recycler partner of choice,” Phalpher said.

Li-Cycle will sell an initial combined allocation of 20,000 tonnes of nickel to LG Chem and LG ES, from its Hub facility in Rochester, New York, as well as off-taking scrap bearing nickel and other lithium battery elements from the pair for its Spokes. In addition to its existing and forthcoming operations in North America, Li-Cycle is making a push to develop to facilities at at least two locations in Europe.

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The project is the second for Fluence in Taiwan. The first (render above) was announced in December 2021. Image: Fluence/Ina Energy.

Global system integrator Fluence has been awarded a 60MW/96MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) order in Taiwan for state-owned utility Taipower, its second in the country.

Fluence and local firm TECO Group will supply a 60MW BESS to Taiwan Power Company’s (Taipower) Taoyuan Longtan substation in the north of the country, one of 29 it operates nationally. Fluence said the substation serves as an important node of the 345KV power grid in Taiwan.

The BESS is a 1.6 hour-duration project which will total investment of over NT$2.6 billion (US$89 million), Fluence said. It comes five months after the US-listed company announced its first BESS project in the country, a smaller 6MW system for independent power producer (IPP) IPA Energy which will also be on Taipower’s network.

Taipower plans to have 160MW of energy storage on its network according to the press release but could procure a total of over 500MW of storage over the next four years for new ancillary services. One of these, Automatic Frequency Control (AFC), is the main revenue stream for energy storage projects in the country.

Other system integrators have capitalised on this and entered the Taiwanese market through 2021. Powin Energy announced a project in July, in August Wärtsilä entered the market and in October New HOrizons Ahead (NHOA) joined them.

The country aims to get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025.

Fluence partners with cQuant.io

The system integrator has also announced another addition to its Fluence IQ Digital Platform, an ecosystem of in-house and third-party software for optimising and developing storage and power assets.

It has entered intro a strategic partnership with cQuant.io, describing it as a leader in energy analytics. According to its website, cQuant’s solutions comprise a market simulation suite, renewables & storage, portfolio & risk management, asset value & management, trade analysis and analytic consulting services.

The two companies will will jointly integrate, market and deliver their market operations solutions, the press release said.

It is the latest in a series of partnerships with or acquisitions of software firms that Fluence has announced. Software is a growing portion of BESS solution providers’ value proposition across the sector as growing deployments of renewables drive market volatility requiring more sophisticated management of assets to capitalise on this.

In mature markets, storage assets are also moving away from being purely ancillary service providers to actively trading energy, which again requires more sophisticated planning and management.

Last month, the company acquired Zurich-based Nispera which provides artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-enabled (ML) software-as-a-service (SaaS) for renewable energy assets with 8GW under management.

In February, it partnered with Pexapark, a similar outfit providing market intelligence about renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs) and energy portfolio risk management optimisation solutions.

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Charles D. Carey

CIG Capital’s five new renewable energy projects will deliver over 2,000 MWh of clean energy. The projects are expected to be up and running between 2023 and 2024.

CIG Capital has partnered with Tier-1 groups for the projects’ EPC, O&M, engineering, equipment manufacturing and power purchase agreements. CIG Capital has developed a de-risked model for funding which utilizes an investment-grade credit structure for each of the individual projects.

In Northern Texas, two 506 MW and 606 MW solar projects, are expected to generate 1,073,732 MWh and 1,280,578 MWh, respectively, of clean energy annually.

In South Dakota, CIG Capital is partnering with the Oglala Lakota Nation, a Sovereign Native American Tribe, on a 300 MW solar project. The company is working with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on a 320 MW solar project in North Dakota through their public power authority known as the Sage Development Authority. In addition, a 300 MW solar project, located in South Dakota, is expected to generate 460,600 MWh.

CIG Capital is a project funding group headquartered in Orlando, Fla. CIG Capital provides funding for large projects, offering strategic project finance. CIG Capital provides 100% of their project’s funding needs by producing various parts of the capital stack structure, including support services for each individual project.

“CIG Capital is committed to exceeding ESG standards with each renewable energy project creating clean energy, using renewable resources; helping create sustainable revenue streams that will positively impact our neighbors, families, and tribal communities for years to come,” says Charles D. Carey, a managing partner at CIG Capital.

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