Terra-Gen’s Valley Center Battery Storage Project, San Diego, California. Image: Terra-Gen.

Renewables developer Terra-Gen’s 140MW/560MWh Valley Center Battery Storage Project in California is now fully online, the company has announced.

“Our Valley Center Project has been successfully dispatching power to the local grid sinceDecember, and we’re proud to report that the facility is now 100% online,” said MarkTurner, Vice President of Energy Storage for Terra-Gen.

The four-hour lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) is connected to a nearby San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) substation and has contracted with the investor-owned utility to provide power under a 15-year Resource Adequacy (RA) contract.

The procurement by SDG&E was approved by the regulatory California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in January 2021 along with Vista Energy Storage, a smaller 10MW project from LS Power. Two Fluence-delivered but SDG&E-owned sites totalling 40MW were not approved (source: Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Energy Division, RESOLUTION E-5117, January 14, 2021) although since that time at least one of them has been.

The Valley Center BESS will help prevent power outages, stabilise the grid, lower the cost of meeting peak power demand, increase the value of nearby wind and solar installations and reduce the need for expensive transmission infrastructure investments.

Investor-owned utilities in California are having to procure large amounts of additional, cleaner energy resources to bolster the grid and make up for the closure of traditional fossil fuel generating plants, particularly peaker plants.

The state has suffered numerous power shutoffs due to the recently increased wildfire risk and plans to have a zero-carbon electricity system by 2045.

As such, electricity suppliers have been ramping up their procurement of power and services from ongoing BESS developments in the last few years as well as developing their own systems. SDG&E has some of its own which will total 145MW by end-2022 and around 300MW by end-2023 while peer Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) recently put forward for approval contracts with nine projects totalling 1.6GW/6.4GWh, to add to a growing arsenal of battery resources it can call on.

Most current BESS projects related to state directives are due to come online over 2023-2026 with a large portion of those due to an 11.5GW clean energy procurement drive load-serving entities including utilities were ordered by CPUC to go on to ensure ‘Mid-Term Reliability’ as nuclear and fossil fuels come off the system. Earlier this month, the regulator also approved a plan to add more than 25.5GW of renewables and 15GW of storage in the state by 2032 at a cost of US$49 billion.

Terra-Gen says the Valley Center project is providing US$40 million to the local area in jobs and economic activity, which equates to around US$71,000 per megawatt-hour. That is roughly in line with the low end of industry benchmarking of average revenues for lithium-ion systems.

As part of the project the firm has donated US$250,000 to support the Valley Center Fire Protection District’s new nearby fire station.

The group is also working with construction group Mortensen to build what the pair claim will be the world’s largest solar-plus-storage project at 1,118MW of Solar and 2,165MWh of energy storage, the Edwards & Sanborn energy project, also in California. Part of its offtake has been secured by non-profit electricity supplier San Jose Clean Energy.

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Colorado Community Solar Gardens, one of the five community solar installations in the state

Pivot Energy and Standard Solar have completed a nearly 2 MW solar project in Jefferson County in Colorado. The project is the fifth and final site in a series of community solar developments launched by the partnership in 2019 in an effort to expand community solar access across the state. Developed in partnership with Pivot, Standard Solar funded the community solar array and is the projects’ long-term owner and operator.

“Pivot is very proud to see this portfolio come to fruition,” says Jon Fitzpatrick, vice president of project development for Pivot Energy. “These five projects are a step toward meeting the growing demand for clean energy across Colorado, all while supporting jobs and bringing myriad economic benefits to the local communities. Our partnership with Standard Solar has been a tremendous success in expanding access to solar for more Coloradans, and we look forward to continued solar development in the state and across the nation.”

Over 110 kW of the project’s capacity is specifically designated for low-to-moderate income segments of the community. Other notable offtakers include local municipalities: over 500 kW to the town of Eaton, nearly 75 kW to the Town of Parachute and over 500 kW to Garfield County. Key components of the community will also be partly supported by solar now, as the Grand Junction Airport and Homeward Bound of Grand Valley are also slated as offtakers.

“By working with Pivot Energy on these projects, we have been able to leverage our collective resources to yield even greater results,” mentions Shaun Laughlin, head of U.S. strategic development for Standard Solar. “Community solar is undeniably a key component of the future of clean energy and is set for immense, sustained growth. We are encouraged by the success of these projects in Colorado in expanding equitable access to solar power and committed to funding further development in the community solar sector.”

With the completion of this project, the two companies have met their goal of developing 8.9 MW of solar power in Colorado through this project series. The other four projects in the series are located in Garfield County, Jefferson County and Mesa County, and are also managed through SunCentral, Pivot Energy’s proprietary community solar customer management interface.

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Dutch ethical banking group Triodos was one of the parties financing this battery project, Giga Rhino, in the Netherlands. Image: Triodos.

GridBeyond is to develop a pipeline of behind-the-meter battery storage projects across the UK and Ireland, thanks to a project financing facility from Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund.

The partnership includes €10 million (US$11.5 million) within the first phase, allowing GridBeyond, an energy storage services company with a background in demand response and smart energy automation, to install storage assets at its commercial and industrial (C&I) clients’ sites. 

“Over the last 12 months many I&C businesses have been examining the risks and rewards of installing battery storage on site, however for most the upfront costs of the technology is a firm barrier,” said GridBeyond chief operating officer (COO) Richard O’Loughlin.

“Through this partnership, which provides a fully funded battery storage system to our existing demand side response clients we are giving them the opportunity not only to bolster their energy resilience, but to make cost savings that can be further invested in actions that support the net zero transition.“

The energy software company will assess each client’s site size, demand profile, onsite generation or plans to develop generation assets, and the level of flexibility already available through demand-side response at the site. 

Using this information, it will select the best size of battery for each, and will then manage the procurement, installation and operation of the batteries. 

Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund – which is managed by Triodos Investment Management – invests in renewable energy, energy efficiency and flexibility companies.

Vincent van Haarlem, fund manager of Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund said: “Triodos Investment Management sees financing storage capacity projects as a broader responsibility in the energy transition given the key role these projects play in managing supply and demand of renewable energy. In addition, decentralised energy storage is a valuable addition to the toolbox of companies seeking to achieve carbon neutrality. As such we are very pleased to team up with GridBeyond and to proactively contribute to accelerating the energy transition through this collaboration.”

Beyond the initial partnership, Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund and GridBeyond are exploring the potential of expanding into more global markets. 

GridBeyond currently operates in the UK, Ireland and Texas’ ERCOT market in the US, and expanded into Japan thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding with engineering company and EPC contractor Chiyoda Corporation in August 2021.

This story first appeared on Current±.

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Another Hecate Energy project, Old Midville, located in Millen, Ga.

Honeywell is supplying Hecate Energy with an energy storage system (ESS) for a solar park located on the Jicarilla Apache Nation in Northern New Mexico. When completed in fall 2022, the 50 MW solar farm will be capable of supplying enough electricity to power up to 16,000 average New Mexican homes for a year.

Honeywell will deliver a 20 MW ESS combined with the Experion Energy Control System to form a battery-powered platform that integrates asset monitoring, distributed energy resource management, supervisory control and analytics functionality. Collectively, these capabilities will enable Hecate Energy to accurately forecast and optimize energy costs at the site and ultimately support users having access to reliable and cost-effective clean energy.

Honeywell’s ESS is backed by Honeywell performance and outcome-based guarantees which include predictable and consistent costs, improved uptime, and “revenue stacking” capabilities, allowing the asset owner to utilize the ESS for more than one use-case application including peak shaving, backup power generation and demand response programs.

“We chose Honeywell for this landmark project because of their depth of knowledge and decades of expertise,” says Alex Pugh, Hecate’s project manager. “We believe in collaborative relationships with the clients and communities we serve, and Honeywell will work closely with us to deliver carbon-free energy to the people of New Mexico.”

“Honeywell is in a unique position to address today’s challenges in energy management and our work with Hecate represents another key step in global decarbonization efforts,” comments Ujjwal Kumar, president and CEO of Honeywell Process Solutions. “Hecate Energy, much like Honeywell, is focused on innovation and the latest technologies to lead the change in energy transition, making them an ideal collaborator in bringing renewable energy options to the table.”

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FRV will assume all investment and operational costs, the company said. Image: FRV.

Energy storage can improve power quality and reduce electricity costs for industrial entities in Mexico, and a new international partnership is offering the technology to customers in a shared savings model.

The ‘energy storage-as-a-service’ offering is being rolled out through a collaboration by international renewable energy company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), US-based energy analytics and software company Energy Toolbase and local developer Ecopulse.

With Mexico hosting a large base of industrial facilities that are reliant on good quality power supply that they cannot always guarantee from the grid, battery energy storage systems (BESS) can help them secure that power quality.

Electricity tariffs based on time-of-use during the day, as well as demand charges which incur higher costs for use of power from the grid during peak times, also offer a route for batteries to reduce energy costs for commercial and industrial (C&I) electricity customers.

FRV said yesterday that customers adopting the behind-the-meter energy storage service will not have to pay upfront capital investment costs or fixed fees for the battery installations, which will be fully funded by the renewable energy company. 

Customers will instead share their electricity savings with the project partners, in a similar model to how companies like Stem Inc and Enel X have offered C&I customers with access to savings via battery storage in the US and Canada. 

The first system deployed through the model will by a 480kW two-hour duration system in Mexican industrial region of Iztapalapa. Integrated by Ecopulse, it will use lithium-ion battery technology and will be optimised using Energy Toolbase’s Acumen energy management system (Acumen EMS). 

FRV said the initial deployment can be used as a replicable model for more projects across Mexico.

The systems will not only save customers money and improve power quality but will also relieve the strain on the grid that their heavy consumption of electricity can cause, especially at peak times, while they can also increase the ability of both the service’s customers and the local networks to add and integrate energy from variable renewable sources.

The Acumen EMS software uses artificial intelligence-driven algorithms to optimise BESS operation and interaction with markets and tariff structures, while the full BESS hardware solution was developed by FRV’s technology incubator division, FRV-X.

Another locally-headquartered partner, Operati, will provide real-time customer service.

FRV, owned by Saudi Arabian energy company Abdul Lateef Jamil Energy, has close to 1GW of renewable assets in operation in Mexico and FRV-X director for business development in Latin America Miguel Sepulveda said that the storage-as-a-service project and offering will help actively consolidating a sustainable energy system in Mexico.

“This project undoubtedly represents a revolution in the field of energy consumption for the Mexican industrial sector, offering users a flexible and efficient option that will bring them immediate results and benefits,” Sepulveda said.

FRV has been active in renewables internationally since 2006 and delivered its first battery storage project in 2020, in the UK, quickly followed by more in that market and a solar-plus-storage project in Australia which began construction in mid-2021.

Energy-Storage.news heard last year from ON Energy Storage, another company active in the Latin American market for C&I energy storage that it is much easier to do behind-the-meter energy storage for C&I customers in Mexico than front-of-the-meter (FTM) projects for utilities or the grid.

This is due to the fact that BTM batteries do not need interconnection agreements or generation licensing, David Fernandes, ON Energy Storage’s Mexico country manager said in an interview.

“You can do capacity, peak shaving, basically, you can do some energy arbitrage. You can do backup power, as long as you’re never injecting into the grid or passing any technical limit that the load point might have on its connection agreement,” Fernandes said.

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PV modules ready for installation at one of Genex’s now-completed solar PV plants. Image: Genex Power.

Genex Power has now achieved financial close on its 50MW/100MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Queensland, Australia. 

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed renewable energy developer said yesterday that all conditions have been fulfilled for the Bouldercombe Battery Project (BBP) standalone BESS to go ahead.

Energy-Storage.news recently reported the company had signed a AU$35 million (US$25.46 million) debt facility with Infradebt and then firm commitments to a capital raise worth AU$40 million last week. Genex Power has said it expects the project, for which it has contracted Tesla as BESS equipment supplier and market optimiser, to offer favourable economic returns. 

The company also launched a share purchase plan to raise AU$10 million from existing investors, with aims to use A$25 million of the investment capital raised for the Bouldercombe project and the other half as working capital to progress a pipeline of more battery projects. 

“Today marks a key step in the roll out of large energy storage capability in the National Electricity Market. The financial close of Genex’s first battery energy storage system, the Bouldercombe Battery Project is a significant achievement for the Company,” CEO James Harding said yesterday, adding that Notice to Proceed has been issued to key contractors including Tesla. 

Genex is also constructing Australia’s first new pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant in nearly 40 years at present. It already has 100MW of renewable capacity in operation across two 50MW solar PV plants, and is developing 420MW of wind projects. 

 At the end of last week, the company reported its H1 FY2022 results, noting a 51% increase on revenues from the first half of FY2021, from AU$7.9 million to AU$11.96 million and underlying EBITDA of AU$5.03 million, a 126% increase on the equivalent period in the previous year. Increase in revenues came from strong performance by its solar farms, the company said. 

It spent AU$84.03 million in capital expenditure on the Kidston PHES project’s construction during the half-year.

Genex recorded a net loss after tax of AU$4.41 million driven by the depreciation of the enlarged portfolio of completed construction assets but held net cash and cash equivalents as of 31 December 2021 of AU$36.62 million. 

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Redflow CEO and managing director Tim Harris with the company’s flow battery units. Image: Redflow

Redflow has reported a significant rise in revenues from its zinc-bromide flow batteries but the Australian company noted that it expects to remain “cash-flow negative for some time”.

In reporting financial results for the half-year ending 31 December 2021 to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Redflow said revenues for the period were AU$1,174,242 (US$853,000), a 172.3% increase on the same period for 2020, when they stood at AU$431,228. 

However it registered a post-income tax loss of AU$6.5 million — an increase on a AU$2.9 million loss for the first half of the year — and noted that it will need additional working capital during this year. It did however raise a total AU$10.8 million for growth initiatives including money from institutional investors. 

Redflow said much of the increased loss could be attributed to higher raw materials and consumables costs, which stood at AU$2,226,725 for the half-year, while other big expenses included more than AU$3.6 million for payroll expenses and AU$477,882 for administrative expenses. 

At the same time it held more than AU$20 million in total assets at the end of the calendar year, which minus just over AU$8 million of current liabilities leaves the company with AU$13.58 million in net assets and equity. It had just under AU$14.5 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period.

The company completed its single biggest deployment to date recently, a 2MWh project at a bioenergy plant in California as it seeks to continue its international expansion. Earlier in the year, the company, which has largely focused on the medium-sized commercial and large off-grid market to date, launched Energy Pod Z, the larger-scale format battery energy storage system (BESS) it would package up its units into for the project and other larger deployments in future.

Redflow CEO and managing director Tim Harris said the project will serve as a reference installation for growth in the US and other global markets. 

“Given the substantial opportunities for us to leverage the accelerating demand for energy storage, we have been focused on building additional capabilities, such as our safety credentials, and made selected capital investments to deliver on the large market opportunity,” Harris said.

A new president of Americas and chief commercial officer, Mark Higgins has joined the company, Harris announced yesterday. 

The California project, for bioenergy generator Anaergia, has generated significant interest in the zinc-bromide flow battery technology with Redflow claiming interest from a “large listed US corporate” which approved Redflow as a supplier of flow batteries, while Singapore venture capital fund FUND4SE assisted with the manufacturer’s US activities, investing AU$500,000 in shares and options and offering other support. 

Its next generation Gen3 battery is on track for launch in the fourth quarter of Redflow’s 2022 financial year, although pandemic impacts on the company’s manufacturing operations, based in Thailand, included staff absences and COVID-19 infections as well as materials supply delays. 

Gen3 will be improved from previous models in terms of stack technology, electrolyte tank architecture, improved cooling and a new electronics control system that it is claimed will enable a 30% cost reduction.

Energy-Storage.news reported yesterday that accreditation and standards group UL has selected Redflow’s systems for a testing programme to assess and understand key technical attributes of flow batteries.

Redflow said 2GWh of energy has passed through the systems it has sold into the market to date and it completed a delivery of battery systems for supporting mobile networks in Australia for telecoms provider Optus in a government-supported programme.

The flow battery maker is also one of the members of the international CEO-led Long Duration Energy Storage Council, which was recently joined by Microsoft and Google.  

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Ukraine’s first 1MW battery storage project went online in May 2021. Image: DTEK.

Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe return for the February 2022 episode of the Solar Media Podcast, starting with discussion around the situation in Ukraine and how Russia’s invasion, and subsequent geopolitical turbulence, could affect Europe’s energy landscape this year and beyond.

Meanwhile, we speak to Lightsource bp CEO Nick Boyle and COO Ann Davies about the solar developer’s target of deploying 25GW by 2025, getting the inside track of how the company intends to reach such an ambitious aim, and there’s coverage of the key topics from our publisher Solar Media’s Energy Storage Summit EU 2022.

Alternatively, you can subscribe and listen to the podcast on the Solar Media Editor’s Channel, which is now on all popular audio channels, including;

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Growatt’s MAX 100-125KTL3-X LV inverter is now available globally. The MAX supports up to 150% DC/AC ratio to achieve lower LCOE for PV plants. With its wide MPPT working range from 180V to 1000V, the inverter can start working earlier in the morning and switch off later in the afternoon, achieving longer operation time to harvest more solar energy. Growatt enhances operational safety with Type II SPD on DC&AC sides, fuse-free design, integrated DC switch, IP66 protection as well as optional active arcing protection (AFCI) and built-in PID recovery to provide all-round protection for the inverter and even the whole PV system.

“Designed especially for C&I solar applications, the new MAX model is set with a maximum output power of 125 kW, which is the highest power for string inverter with multiple MPPTs at 400V AC level,” says Lisa Zhang, Growatt’s marketing director. With maximum DC input current reaching 32A for each MPPT and 16A for each string, this new MAX inverter combines well with high-power and bi-facial modules. Its 10 MPP trackers support the connection of a maximum of 20 strings, which significantly reduces energy loss caused by shadow effect and module mismatch.

Growatt simplifies the management of multiple inverters with its Smart Energy Manager, which can also realize export limitation and PF control of the system. The company has developed ShinePhone and ShineServer for end-users to monitor system operation anytime, and an OSS (Online Smart Service) system for installers and distributors to easily access online service, such as online smart IV scan and diagnosis, remote configuration and firmware upgrade, enabling 60% of issues to be solved without site visits, reducing O&M costs.

“Since its recent launch on the market, the new MAX inverter has quickly accumulated over 500 MW in shipments. Now we are ready to bring this outstanding C&I solution to more countries worldwide,” Zhang concludes.

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David Gahl

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is releasing a new report to aid policymakers in siting community solar projects. This new report starts with the concept that community solar systems should be designed so they result in ecosystem and agricultural benefits. Then, SEIA recommends policymakers deploy the existing well-established tools to avoid, minimize and/or mitigate any environmental impacts associated with community solar construction. For decades, builders seeking federal, and in some cases state approvals, have been required to assess the environmental impact of their proposed projects, and develop alternatives that address environmental concerns.

“Policymakers should strongly encourage these project designs,” says David Gahl, SEIA’s senior director of state policy for the East. “By following these steps, community solar developers, landowners and communities can work together to ensure the benefits of clean, locally produced solar energy are shared by all stakeholders.”

Well-designed community solar projects can result in increased crop and clean energy production, the report shows. Community solar projects can also result in other benefits, such as protecting soils and providing habitat for many important species.

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change and meet aggressive renewable energy goals, states need to build significantly more community solar projects. The framework described in this report should be used by policymakers as they tackle the challenges of siting more solar projects that will help them reach their clean energy goals.

“The use of smart siting in renewable energy projects such as community solar is critical to achieving New York’s clean energy goals while also protecting and managing the health of our natural resources,” observes Echo Cartwright, The Nature Conservancy’s New York director of climate mitigation. “The recommendations put forward in the SEIA’s Whitepaper will help communities gain access to solar energy in ways that will also preserve valuable open space. SEIA’s approach compliments and builds upon smart siting work, and The Nature Conservancy looks forward to continuing to work with SEIA and other partners to share these important policy recommendations.”

“Community solar represents an important feature of America’s clean energy future, providing homeowners, renters and businesses greater access to the benefits of solar energy generation,” comments Ethan Winter, American Farmland Trust’s Northeast solar specialist. “American Farmland Trust appreciates SEIA’s efforts to articulate a Community Solar Siting Framework. With potentially thousands of community solar facilities to be developed across the country, effective guidelines are needed for developers, landowners and local permitting jurisdictions to advance projects that are designed to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts on our most productive farmland.

Read the report here.

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