[Graeme]

Energy Storage 2014: Industry calls for better regulatory framework

At the recent staging of the Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition 2014 in Düsseldorf, Germany, more than 850 experts from politics, business and research representing 46 countries discussed the most recent worldwide developments in energy storage. At the accompanying exhibition with almost 70 stands, visitors were able to get information about the latest state-of-the-art technology and to conclude concrete business deals. The exhibitors included companies such as Siemens, Areva, FIAMM Energy Storage Solutions, SMA Solar Technology and Younicos, Hydrogenics as well as Varta Storage, RWE and E.ON. One of the highlights was the new e-car with iDrive technology presented by BMW.
In his closing speech, Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber, Chairman of the Energy Storage Program Committee, President of the German Energy Storage Association (BVES) and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, stated: “The energy storage market is in the same situation today as photovoltaics was ten years ago; only development in the area of storage must proceed significantly faster.” The storage industry, he said, must achieve in three years what photovoltaics took ten years to accomplish.

In his keynote speech, the North Rhine-Westphalia Minister for Economics, Garrelt Duin, demanded that the general conditions and financial support for energy storage be more clearly organized and enforced. The public sector could, as a “visible consumer”, help to facilitate the breakthrough of energy storage technologies.

For the German visitors, the impending reform of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) was a dominant topic. Tobias Rothacher of Germany Trade and Invest hoped that the last word had not yet been said on the matter of EEG surcharge on industrial own consumption. He is assuming that the big breakthrough for energy storage will come in two to three years, when no more feed-in subsidies are paid after the “flexible cap” has been reached. “It is a logical step for the owners of photovoltaic plants to then purchase energy storage, in order to avoid throwing away the energy generated,” explained Tobias Rothacher. He guesses that in Germany it will be possible to store approximately 3.8 TWh PV energy on an economically viable basis by 2020. That would allow for an installed battery storage capacity of more than 12 GWh.

According to Frank Wouters, Deputy Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the market share of renewable energies will also increase worldwide: “Without increasing costs, the share of renewable energies in the energy supply worldwide can reach 36% by 2030.” Within the context of the Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition 2014, IRENA held an international workshop with some 50 participants, during which promising energy storage technologies and applications that will be included in IRENA's global technology plan for energy storage were presented in detail.

Many speakers called for corresponding regulatory conditions, in order to facilitate the breakthrough of energy storage worldwide. Dr. Ilja Pawel from Cellstrom GmbH/Gildemeister energy solutions, emphasized: “Energy storage still has a long way to go until it is used worldwide in an economically viable manner, but we are moving in the right direction. For this, we also need the right legal framework.”

pennenergy

[Graeme]

Sustainable Innovations Announces Launch of Megawatt Scale Renewable Hydrogen Platform

Sustainable Innovations, LLC of East Hartford, Connecticut (USA) announced the achievement of key development milestones for its hydrogen separation and compression systems. Sustainable Innovations' unique Expandable Modular cell and system Architecture (EMA) readily adapts to meet the projected needs of hydrogen systems for megawatt scale renewable power-to-gas and fueling applications. Power-to-gas strategies reduce reliance on European imports of natural gas while alleviating CO2 emissions.

Using its unique EMA format, SI successfully achieved key milestones under a NASA-sponsored technology development effort to compress hydrogen from a low pressure source. In a related NASA application, SI's EMA format hardware is conserving and purifying helium, a valuable and scarce commodity, used to purge hydrogen fueling lines after test firing of rocket engines.

These initial applications of SI's technology; power-to-gas energy storage and hydrogen separation/compression, are examples of Sustainable Innovations' EMA platform technology business strategy. SI is commercializing the EMA platform for important energy and industrial uses, varying chemistry, pressure and scale as required for each application.

The EMA is also being incorporated into a highly-efficient flow battery for large-scale integration of renewable energy into the power grid. Furthermore, SI is leveraging its EMA to facilitate electrochemical conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels, providing a sustainable solution to the global climate issue, and access into markets for energy and industrial process feedstocks reaching hundreds of billions of dollars.

According to Dr. Trent Molter, SI's CEO, "Companies designing and building hydrogen products have spent a lot of money trying to meet the need for high capacity PEM systems. Achievement of this milestone is validation of our concept for scalability to MW-sized hydrogen systems, enabling both high output and high pressure at the same time."

altenergymag

[Graeme]

Top Energy Storage Leaders and Policy Architects to Speak at Energy Storage North America 2014

Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the most influential gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, today announced the first round of confirmed keynotes for this year's ESNA 2014. The historic procurement targets recently adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission have made California the world's leading energy storage market – targeting 1.3 GW of storage procurement by 2020. At ESNA 2014, which takes place at the San Jose Convention Center from September 30 - October 2, 2014, attendees will hear directly from key energy storage policy makers and market leaders about what the next phase of growth holds for the industry and how to ensure success in this thriving global market.

ESNA 2014 welcomes a prestigious keynote line-up that includes:

John Norris, Commissioner, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Mateo Jaramillo, Director of Powertrain Business Development, Tesla Motors
Peter Rive, Co-founder and CTO, SolarCity
Mike Florio and Carla Peterman, Commissioners, California Public Utility Commission
Kim Warren, VP of Operations and COO, Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator
Eric Schmitt, VP of Operations, California Independent System Operator
Fong Wan, Senior VP, Energy Procurement, Pacific Gas & Electric
Mark Nelson, Director, Integrated Planning and Strategy, Southern California Edison
Chris Orzel, Manager, Energy Storage Development, Invenergy

Last year's inaugural event was the largest energy storage conference ever held in the western hemisphere. ESNA 2013 drew nearly 750 attendees from 16 countries and was highlighted by the first annual ESNA Innovation Awards. ESNA 2014 expects to bring together more than 1,000 international attendees, including regulators, utility executives, investors, project developers, and technologists for three days of discussions, workshops and deal-making.

"The level of activity and engagement we've experienced in the seven months since ESNA 2013 has changed the shape of today's energy storage markets," said Janice Lin, Co-Founder, California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA). "With key procurement targets now in place and the first wave of implementations on the immediate horizon, the commercial traction we're seeing across the U.S. and Canada is a strong indicator of what's to come."

Three educational conference tracks at ESNA 2014 will help attendees to better understand and gain a competitive edge in the growing energy storage marketplace. World-class experts will explain how to create unique value and share positioning strategies for long-term success. The 2014 tracks are:

Customer-Sited Markets: Distributed energy storage is integral to grid optimization. From substation-sited to behind-the-meter, learn how to demonstrate the value of distributed storage to key customers and how to implement bankable revenue streams for these resources.

Mobility Markets: Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) markets promise to bring value-added assets to the grid edge as electric vehicle adoption accelerates. Leaders in vehicle grid integration (VGI) will attest to the energy potential and share ways to maximize the value of V2G technology from controlled ramping to automated Demand Response programs.

Utility-Scale Markets: Storage systems that are distribution or transmission-interconnected are boosting grid stability, making energy markets more secure and providing additional services to storage stakeholders. Learn how to scale and diversify products, secure contracts, and implement utility-grade projects for maximum return.

Registration for ESNA 2014 is now open; register by July 18 to receive an early bird discount.

prnewswire

[Graeme]

11 innovative companies giving energy storage a jolt

Technological and market forces have converged to make energy storage one of the most exciting — and potentially game-changing — opportunities for commercial and industrial facility managers, grid operators, homeowners and investors.

Forward-thinking utilities, battery suppliers, power inverter producers, system integrators and public-sector supporters are driving a massive expansion of energy storage solutions aimed at enabling the grid of the future — or even a grid-less future.

Although the energy storage value chain includes hundreds — if not thousands — of players, the following are leading the charge.

1. Aquion Energy: A cleaner chemistry
2. General Electric: A storage giant awakens
3. Green Charge Networks: Power efficiency
4. LG Chem: Leading lithium-ion battery makerl
5. NEC Corporation: Global grid-scale storage
6. NRG Energy: From V2G to 'post-grid future'
7. Princeton Power: Grid-tied storage
8. Solar Grid Storage: A match made in the heavens
9 and 10. SolarCity and Tesla: A dynamic duo
11. Sonnenbatterie: From Europe with love

greenbiz

KAir Battery - Potassium/Air Energy Storage

KAir Battery, a student team from Ohio State University, has won the Southwest region of the U.S. Energy Department's National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition for its potassium-air battery.

KAir's Battery innovation is an energy-efficient and cost-effective large-scale stationary potassium-air (K−O2) battery system. The cost to produce KAir Battery's solution is half that of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) long-term target of USD $150 per 1 kWh. KAir Battery says it the battery offers an unprecedented energy efficiency of 98 percent.

"It gets better, at the end of these batteries’ lifetimes the by-products are non-toxic and recyclable," says Damian Beauchamp, a chemistry graduate student at OSU.

KAir says its batteries are 78% cheaper to produce compared to competing products.

The team has set a goal of releasing a 1kWh battery with a 2000 cycle life on the market by December 2017.

energymatters

[Graeme]

Intersolar North America Strengthens Focus on Growing Energy Storage Market

Intersolar North America, the most attended industry exhibition and conference in North America for solar professionals to exchange information and develop business opportunities, is expanding its focus on energy storage for the 2014 event.
Intersolar North America exhibition will feature a host of energy storage companies showcasing their latest innovations, and new conference sessions will foster in-depth discussions on the market policies and business models pushing this sector forward.
Energy storage is positioned for strong growth in 2014 and beyond, with solar playing a crucial role in its early market success. According to market research firm IHS, the U.S. storage market is expected to grow to 1.7 GW by the end of 2017—of this, more than 300 MW will come from systems paired with solar installations.
Driven by energy storage-supporting legislation, California leads the U.S. in storage project volume. Of the 330 storage projects planned or completed across the nation, California is home to 119. This market leadership reinforces Intersolar North America's commitment to hosting its event in San Francisco each year.
Exhibition Boasts Diverse Energy Storage Companies
The Intersolar North America exhibit hall hosts a special section dedicated to energy storage solutions. A wide range of energy storage companies are exhibiting on site, reflecting the diversity of technologies in the marketplace, ranging from electrochemical batteries to fuel cells to chargers to battery and PV management systems. Notable exhibitors at this year's conference include ABB Inc., MK Battery, Engion by VARTA Storage, JuiceBox Energy, Outback Power and Ideal Power. A full list is available here.
New this year, Intersolar North America will host a special program on the electrical energy storage (ees) Forum (exhibition stage, level 2, alcove 2). The forum is located on the show floor and is included in an exhibition visitor pass. Presentations on this stage will focus on technology solutions, market developments, regulations and policy, new incentives and project case studies deployed in the field. The full schedule of presentations will be announced in May.
"In the last few years, we've worked to integrate the growing field of energy storage technology more deeply into our exhibition and conference agenda," Markus Elsaesser, CEO of Solar Promotion International, an organizer of Intersolar North America. "Attendees of Intersolar North America 2014 will find this year's event, more than ever before, tackles the technology and business models helping the sector get from ideas and innovation to an economically viable enterprise."
More information on the energy storage exhibition is available online here, and the full conference program is available here.
Energy Storage at the Heart of the Intersolar North America Conference Program
The Intersolar North America conference which will take place at the InterContinental Hotel will provide valuable insights on the factors accelerating the adoption of energy storage. It will host four sessions focused on storage, including:
InterContinental Hotel Conference Programs:
Markets Prospects & Policies, Monday, July 7, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Innovative Technologies, Monday, July 7, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Applications & System Solutions, Monday, July 7, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Energy Storage Panel Discussion, Monday, July 7, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Storing the Sun: How Batteries and Other Storage Technologies Can Re-Shape California's Grid, Tuesday, July 8, 9:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. (hosted by CALSEIA)

prnewswire

[Graeme]

Highpower Rolls Out Commercial Ready Solar Compatible Energy Storage System (ESS) Products

Highpower International, Inc. (NASDAQ: HPJ), a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of lithium and nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeable batteries, and a battery management systems and battery recycling provider, today announced that the Company's subsidiary, Icon Energy Systems, Ltd., has successfully developed its first series of commercial ready off-grid energy storage system (ESS) products, ranging from 0.5KWH to 15KWH.

"This is another substantial milestone for Highpower in expanding our product mix as we are methodically executing on our plan of evolving from solely a consumer electronics based battery company to a sophisticated large-scale battery application solution company. The industry demand for ESS products is widely expected to take off in the coming years and we believe this is a very valuable product offering for customers in the clean energy market," said Mr. George Pan, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Highpower International. "Icon Energy was created with a vision to provide clean energy solutions because clean renewable energy solutions are undoubtedly the future for our society. Highpower is well positioned to enter into the promising energy storage market and capitalize on this higher margin business, leveraging our extensive research and development expertise in various battery products over the past ten years."

Major countries around the world including the United States, Germany, U.K., Australia, Japan, Korea, and China, have all initiated favorable policies to promote the use of ESS products in developing the clean energy industry. The ESS market is expected to experience tremendous growth over the next few years. According to Navigant Research, the world micro grid market will increase from $4.3 billion in 2013 to $19.9 billion in 2020, using conservative estimates.

marketwired

[Graeme]

Is an Energy Storage Tsunami About to Hit California?

California is at the forefront of the storage revolution and policymakers have recognized the potential role of energy storage in a number of new programs. The biggest of these programs is the AB 2514 energy storage procurement program. This law required the California Public Utilities Commission to consider creating an energy storage procurement mandate for utilities. And that’s about all the law did, leaving most issues to the discretion of the CPUC. The law did, however, require that any storage that is mandated must also be cost-effective. That is, the mandate couldn’t lead to any net costs for ratepayers. (This is a common requirement in California for new programs, despite the common myth that legislators and policymakers don’t care about costs.)

The CPUC took up the challenge that Sacramento offered with AB 2514, and in late 2013 (in Decision 13-10-040) the CPUC created a new program requiring utilities to procure 1.325 gigawatts of new storage by 2024. This is a lot of storage, enough to produce power at peak output for over 1 million California homes, as well as to provide numerous other grid benefits at the same time.

greentechmedia

[Graeme]

Energy Storage Systems for Microgrids to Reach Nearly $4.2 Billion in Market Value by 2024, Forecasts Navigant Research

Delivering services both to microgrids and, in the case of grid-tied systems, to the centralized grid, energy storage is becoming an essential enabling technology for all types of microgrids. Energy storage can reduce the payback period of the microgrid, by enabling an increase in the penetration of renewable energy sources or by reducing diesel fuel consumption. Click to tweet: According to a recent report from Navigant Research, the worldwide market value for energy storage for microgrids will grow from $662 million annually in 2014 to nearly $4.2 billion in 2024.

businesswire

[Graeme]

Electrical cables that store energy? New nanotech may provide power storage in electric cables, clothes

Sounds like science fiction, but it may become a reality thanks to breakthrough technology developed at a University of Central Florida research lab.

So far electrical cables are used only to transmit electricity. However, nanotechnology scientist and professor Jayan Thomas and his Ph.D. student Zenan Yu have developed a way to both transmit and store electricity in a single lightweight copper wire.

Their work is the focus of the cover story of the June 30 issue of the material science journal Advanced Materials and science magazine, Nature has published a detailed discussion about this technology in the current issue.

"It's a very interesting idea," Thomas said. "When we did it and started talking about it, everyone we talked to said, "Hmm, never thought of that. It's unique.'"

Copper wire is the starting point but eventually, Thomas said, as the technology improves, special fibers could also be developed with nanostructures to conduct and store energy.

phys.org

[Graeme]

EPA Rules Paving the Way for Energy Storage Technologies

Recently, the EPA issued a draft rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. The President praised the agency for creating a flexible scheme that will provide economic and health benefits to the U.S.

The draft rule is the result of hundreds of meetings with stakeholders, including the Energy Storage Association, and the resulting rule sets forth GHG caps for each state while providing flexibility in the particular methodology and technology solutions implemented to attain these goals. Now the clock starts on a 120-day comment period for the public to submit suggestions on how technologies should be quantified and valued in the emissions reduction scheme.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has stressed the flexibility of the rule as well as the ability for cost-effective and innovative solutions to lower emissions, grow the economy, and reduce health impacts from GHG.

As opposed to a rule promulgated under Section 111 (b) of the Clean Air Act in September 2013, calling for new plants to be subject individually to standards and requirements, this draft rule instead provides overarching guidance to the states, which will be responsible—individually or as regions-- for developing plans that will meet the targets.

The rule is scheduled to be completed June 2015 with state implementation plans due June 2016 when the rule will take full effect. The draft rule gives each state different reduction targets under one overarching standard, with a goal of curtailing carbon emissions nationally by 30 percent in 2030, based on 2005 levels.

You can be sure, that these topics will be discussed at length at the Energy Storage Association's 24th Annual Conference in Washington, DC - as energy storage has a critical role to play in the future of our grid.

theenergycollective

[Graeme]

Is Renewable Energy Ready for Takeoff?

The first thing Dax Kepshire shows a visitor to SustainX is foam. When he flips a switch on a 10-foot-tall assemblage of pneumatic tubes and mesh screens, the machine starts spewing a creamy white goo that resembles soft-serve ice cream into a 300-gallon plastic tub. In a few minutes the foam is 3 feet deep, and Kepshire plunges his hand in. “It’s completely nontoxic,” he says, and derived from an industrial foaming agent found in shampoo and carwash soap. The seven-year-old company is betting the substance can solve the biggest challenge for renewable energy: how to store it.

The difficulty of holding on to enough wind and solar energy to power a city remains an obstacle to the commercial viability of renewables. Because excess electricity from wind farms or solar panels can’t easily be saved, utility companies can’t rely on them when the wind stops blowing or the sun goes down. In the race to develop commercial storage systems that can meet utility-scale demand, SustainX is up against technologies that include powerful but short-lived batteries. Kepshire, a vice president and general manager at Seabrook (N.H.)-based SustainX, says the foam his company creates can help effectively store power at the scale needed to keep cities humming.

The SustainX system relies on compressed-air energy storage, a technology that has been tested on and off for decades with mixed results. The idea is to save surplus electricity by using it to drive an air compressor, keep the compressed air in tanks or underground, and then tap it at will to spin electricity-generating turbines. The problem with this approach is temperature control. Compression superheats air, while decompressing it makes it very cold, and the swings result in a lot of wasted energy. (The heat also threatens to explode a compressor’s cylinders.) The world’s only two operational compressed-air facilities, built decades ago in Alabama and Germany, require the use of natural gas as an external fuel source to stabilize air temperatures—raising costs and defeating the purpose of using clean energy.

That’s where the foam comes in. Injecting it into the air being compressed helps keep the temperature almost stable (at about 122F), as the foam absorbs excess heat, like a Styrofoam coffee cup.

businessweek

[Graeme]

Gravel power storage may be key to worldwide green energy use

British aeronautical engineer Jonathan Howes has an idea that could change the way we store green power. His solution works with two gravel-filled silos connected by a series of pipes filled with the inert gas argon. This invention is said to out-perform the storage abilities of our best solution in use today.

Jonathan Howes, James Macnaghten, and Mark Wagner have created a company called Isentropic which has invented this "pumped-heat electricity storage (PHES)" machine which they suggest will demonstrate an output of 1.5 megawatts of power. To do this, the machine takes surplus energy (from solar power stations or wind) to run a motor which operates a compressor to squeeze its argon gas. The gas gets hot (500 degrees C hot, as it were), and the gas heats the gravel as it travels through the first silo.

slashgear

[Graeme]

Solar Energy Storage System Market In Germany Approaching A Boom

The solar energy storage system market in Germany is approaching a boom period, according to many analysts, with a rapid uptick in sales likely as the technology enters wider use.

The drive behind this boom is the simple fact that such systems are extremely practical for many people/purposes — most pay themselves off in only a few years, providing yet another way for renewable energy to help cut utility costs for homeowners.

With the recent surge in solar energy in the country — and the achievement of a new record high on May 11, 2014 (15 GW) — the time certainly does seem ripe for a solar energy storage boom.

The systems don’t just benefit the consumer, though. The grid benefits as well.

“Balancing supply with demand in the grid presents operators with a significant challenge and leads to market price fluctuations. That is where storage solutions come into play,” explains Tobias Rothacher, renewable energies manager at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI).

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Energy Storage Solutions Offered By KB Home and SunPower

Battery storage is on the cusp of going mainstream. Thousands of German homes are now obtaining 60-70% of their electricity from solar, and the yield is even higher in the US, where there is more sunshine. (More on that coming soon.) Now KB Home and SunPower are offering energy storage solutions in Southern California.

“The announcement we made today is for a pilot program to hone SunPower’s storage offering and ultimately provide customers with an optimal storage solution,” Sunpower Spokesperson Ingrid Ekstrom explained. ”SunPower is testing technologies from several companies and installing the technology in just a handful of homes in California this year.”

“It’s also important to understand that energy storage today in the US gives homeowners the security and peace-of-mind of knowing they’ll have backup power in the event of a power outage. In future, homeowners with battery storage will be able to serve household load with stored power at any time, not just during outages.”

SunPower is not ready to release information on technology configurations or economics.

However KB Home, “estimates that at current residential electric rates, a 1.4-kilowatt high-efficiency photovoltaic system provided by SunPower and installed as a standard part of a 3,654-square-foot, ENERGY STAR® certified home at Vicenza would yield average energy savings of $216 per month, or approximately $25,900 over ten years, compared to a typical resale home without these features.”

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

USC team develops novel organic redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage

Scientists at USC have developed a novel water-based Organic Redox Flow Battery (ORBAT) for lower cost, long lasting large-scale energy storage. An open access paper on their work is published in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

ORBAT employs two different water-soluble organic redox couples on the positive and negative side of a flow battery. Redox couples such as quinones are particularly attractive for this application, the researchers said. (Quinones are oxidized derivatives of aromatic compounds.) No precious metal catalyst is needed because of the fast proton-coupled electron transfer processes. Furthermore, in acid media, the quinones exhibit good chemical stability. These properties render quinone-based redox couples very attractive for high-efficiency metal-free rechargeable batteries, they found.

greencarcongress

[Graeme]

FACT SHEET AVAILABLE: CODES AND STANDARDS FOR ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY (JUNE 2014)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Energy Storage Systems Program, with the support of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and in collaboration with a number of stakeholders, developed a protocol for measuring and expressing the performance characteristics for energy storage systems.

The protocol was first published in 2012 and was updated in June 2014. This fact sheet highlights the most recent activities and releases related to the protocol, including the June 2014 revision and some of the latest and upcoming work related to performance and safety.

View or download the fact sheet.

einnews

[Graeme]

California Taking Charge of Energy Storage As Policies and Incentives Align for Success

California is again poised to lead the nation in sustainable energy development with recent legislation and regulations clearing the way for advanced energy storage and, most importantly, an extended incentive program with funds to support it.

Similar to California's experience with solar energy during the past decade, the state's market for energy storage is now primed for greater success, according to Rebecca Feuerlicht, a distributed generation project manager at the California Center for Sustainable Energy in San Diego. Feuerlicht will outline the essential role of energy storage in California's energy future during a presentation at Intersolar North America on Tuesday, July 8, at 2:30 p.m.

"Energy storage is the mechanism needed to allow California to fully maximize the benefits of renewable generation, reduce fossil fuel use and GHG emissions and eliminate inefficient ramping up and down of existing power plants," Feuerlicht said.

California has a long history of policies and initiatives that support renewable energy and a cleaner, more reliable grid. Since the California Solar Initiative (CSI) rebate program launched in 2007, state energy consumers have added some 140,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems through the program, amounting to more than 1,500 megawatts, a sevenfold increase in the total amount of installed solar.

Even though CSI rebate amounts have declined and soon will run out, a strong solar market continues thanks to lower per-watt installation costs, long-term leasing agreements and creative energy loans, according to Feuerlicht. She is optimistic that the energy storage market is set to follow a similar path with strong regulatory and legislative support.

In October 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission set a specific target for California's investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to procure 1.325 gigawatts of energy storage by 2020 that requires them to set individual storage procurement goals beginning this year. In May, the commission followed up with a ruling that energy storage systems paired with net energy metering-eligible technologies, such as solar PV, are exempt from interconnection application fees, supplemental review fees and standby charges, which were restraining energy storage growth.

California's energy storage market received a boost on the legislative side in mid-June when Governor Jerry Brown authorized renewal of the state's Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), the nation's longest-running distributed generation rebate initiative, through 2019. It was due to sunset in 2015. The extension comes with $83 million per year for behind-the-meter generation technologies, including standalone and PV-paired energy storage systems. Since 2011, SGIP has received more than 55 MW of energy storage system incentive applications, however, only 3 MW were installed at the start of 2014.

For information about the California Center for Sustainable Energy, visit www.energycenter.org.

virtualpressoffice

[Graeme]

AGRION Launches Energy Storage Website for Building Owners, Partnering with Con Edison and NYSERDA

AGRION, the energy & infrastructure marketmaker, has partnered with Con Edison and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to create a new web platform to help promote the use of energy storage in New York buildings.

The site, GridMarket.com, aims to simplify the process for a building owner or manager to implement a storage project. Energy storage, generally using batteries, allows a building to reduce its energy costs by storing energy when it is least expensive and using that stored energy to reduce grid demand at times of peak use.

"Storage has the potential to help our customers control their energy bills and power their buildings even after the kind of fierce weather events that have struck New York in recent years," said Margarett Jolly, director of Research and Development for Con Edison. "We were pleased to help with the development of the AGRION's GridMarket.com website, which is full of energy storage information that can guide building owners and facility managers."

itnewsonline

[Graeme]

The Plan to Store Wind Energy In Giant Underwater Air Bubbles

Weather is annoyingly fickle, and so is the wind. If massive offshore wind farms are going to become reality, we need better ways to store the extra energy from windy days for the windless ones. One a bizarre-sounding idea floating around: giant balloons of compressed air stored deep underwater.

Like many good ideas, the seeds of compressed-air energy storage, or CAES, were sowed long ago, in the 1870s. Today, a handful of operations store energy as compressed air in sealed-off caves or pipe systems. But that's all on land. Bringing CAES deep underwater, where water pressure naturally keeps air compressed, is a novel and tantalizing idea for the massive offshore wind farms of the future.

In August, IEEE Spectrum reports, the Toronto-based Hydrostor will make the first commercial deployment of underwater CAES technology. It'll use electricity to fill several balloon-like bags tethered to the bottom of Lake Ontario with compressed air. To turn that stored air back into electricity, they'll run the compressed air through a turboexpander.

gizmodo

Energy Storage Market Rises to $50 Billion in 2020, Amid Dramatic Changes

Energy storage, driven largely by electronics and plug-in vehicles, will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8% to $50 billion in 2020, with dramatic shifts coming from the transportation industry, according to Lux Research.

Transportation applications will outpace electronics growth -- attaining an 11% CAGR to become a $21 billion market by the end of the decade. Its faster growth will close the gap with electronics, which still will remain the single largest market valued at $27 billion. The market for stationary applications will be worth $2.8 billion, as it awaits cost breakthroughs.

Additionally, incremental evolutions like start-stop technology are leading to significant changes in the energy storage market. With global sales of 59 million, a 53% market share and $6.1 billion in annual revenue, micro-hybrids will, for the first time, overtake the conventional internal combustion engine and emerge the most popular drivetrain by 2020.

"The automotive market is well on its way to displacing consumer electronics as the biggest user of energy storage. As that happens, it will lead to further scale and a new round of cost reductions, which will impact stationary applications as well," said Cosmin Laslau, Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, "Finding Growth Opportunities in the $50 Billion Energy Storage Market."

Lux Research analysts evaluated opportunities as the energy storage market exhibits tremendous growth and significant shifts. Among their findings:

powerengineeringint