Energy storage resources for commercial and industrial classes are being used five times as much this year as they were last year to help reduce peak electricity demand across Ontario, New York, California, and Massachusetts this summer, according to recent data by Enel X.
In Ontario, despite some slowdown due to Covid-19, the Ontario Energy Board has two consultations underway to develop “a more comprehensive framework” for DERs and remove barriers. The IESO also launched an engagement last October to design ways for energy storage to participate and operate in IESO-administered markets. The IESO would see storage facilities, within the existing 10MW threshold, register as self-scheduling.
Across the country, among other projects,
• The Alberta Utilities Commission approved a solar and battery storage project combining 13.5MW of solar PV generation with 8MW/8MWh of batteries.
• Wärtsilä will supply Georgian College in Ontario with a 2MW/5.4MWh GridSolv energy storage system.
• Japan’s Itochu Corp. finalized its investment of $5 million in Calgary-based energy storage systems developer Eguana Technologies in March.
In the United States, energy storage installations grew by 522.7 MW and 1,113 MWh in 2019, with 186.4 MW and 364.2 MWh added in the fourth quarter alone. Moreover, the number of sites pairing renewable energy with energy storage in the U.S. more than doubled from 2016 to 2019. Also,
• California will direct more than $500 million in behind-the-meter battery incentives over the next four years to customers most at risk of grid outages caused by wildfires.
• Nevada passed a 1,000MW by 2030 target in March, meaning that seven U.S. states now have mandated energy storage deployment targets.