THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - APRIL 2018
4 Americas News
Growing energy storage
market fuelling new
strategies
Siân Crampsie
Energy storage solution providers are
racing to gain a competitive advantage
in the fast-growing US energy storage
market.
Renewable energy penetration in
particular is driving rapid growth in the
energy storage market, which is expected
to triple in size this year.
The growing value of the market –
both in the front-of-meter and behindthe
meter segments – is fuelling new
strategies by tech companies.
Last month GE launched a new energy
storage platform called GE Reservoir
that will, the company says,
expand its existing footprint in the
energy storage space.
Meanwhile Highview Power and
SNC-Lavalin have announced a collaboration
to deploy liquid air energy
storage (LAES) systems in North
America.
GE’s Reservoir system is a modular
energy storage solution based on a 1.2
MW/4MWh battery ‘building block’
incorporating GE’s Battery Blade and
other key technologies from across the
group’s portfolio. The Reservoir already
has a 20 MW pre-launch commitment,
GE said.
“The energy landscape is undergoing
an unprecedented paradigm shift, as
the growth of renewables, decentralisation
of power and digitisation create
both new challenges and opportunities
in how power is generated, transmitted
and distributed,” said Russell Stokes,
President and Chief Executive Officer
of GE Power. “GE’s Reservoir delivers
the new type of energy system that
customers are looking for to help manage
electricity’s next chapter.”
Last year GE launched a hybrid
electric-gas turbine integrating an
LM6000 gas turbine and battery storage
system to enable spinning reserve
without fuel-burn. It has also devised
other hybrid power solutions using batteries
with wind and solar systems.
Last month the Energy Storage Association
(ESA) and GTM Research
issued forecasts indicating that gridconnected
energy storage in the US
would see a near three-fold increase to
1233 MWh in 2018.
This strong growth will push the
sector’s market value over $1 billion
by 2019, and continue exponentially
in the years ahead. At the moment, it
is valued at $300 million, but by 2023,
it could be worth $3.8 billion.
Energy storage in the US has been
helped by “falling costs and favourable
policies” at the state level, according
to Ravi Manghani at GTM Research.
The major markets for the technology,
such as California, Massachusetts and
New York, have all created targets to
grow the technology, and provided tax
incentives to get there.
Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of
ESA, said that “policies and regulatory
frameworks that level the playing
field will further encourage energy
storage deployment throughout 2018
and beyond as the industry builds toward
a goal of realising 35 GW by
2025”.
Battery energy storage deployments
dominate the market, but other technologies
are hoping to find a foothold.
The agreement between Highview
Power and SNC-Lavalin to work together
to deploy Highview’s LAES
solution is aimed at satisfying the requirement
for long-duration energy
storage from utilities and independent
power producers.
“Long duration energy storage such
as Highview’s LAES is one of the key
technologies that will enable our utility
and large industrial facility clients
to maximise the value of their renewable
energy investments through increased
levels of integration with the
grid,” said Marie-Claude Dumas,
President of Clean Power at SNCLavalin.
n GE launches storage staple n SNC-Lavalin bets on LAES
Prolonged energy shortages in Venezuela
has forced the country’s government
to impose electricity rationing in
six states.
The government announced in mid-
March that rationing would start in the
states in the western part of the country
in response to recurring power outages
caused by low water levels in
hydroelectric reservoirs.
The shortages have been caused by
a prolonged drought in the country and
have exacerbated the existing economic
crisis. The capital city, Caracas,
has not yet been affected by rationing
but power shortages are already commonplace
across the country, according
to local reports.
The rationing will last for two weeks
and will affect the states of Tachira,
Merida, Trujillo, Portuguesa, Barinas,
and Apure for four hours per day, the
government said. Rain in the west of
the country had been lower than average
for around six months, it added.
Frequent blackouts in the country –
some of them lasting for days – have
triggered protests in some states, local
media has reported, and have also had
a severe impact on local services such
as schools and hospitals, as well as
businesses.
Venezuela has an installed electricity
generating capacity of around 32 GW,
of which around half is hydropower
and much of the remainder based on
natural gas and oil. Peak electricity
demand is around 14 000 MW, according
to state-run utility Corpoelec, down
from 16 000 MW two years ago.
The USA’s solar energy market
remained strong in 2017 in spite of the
uncertainty caused by the trade case,
according to the Solar Energy Industries
Association (SEIA).
Some 10.6 GW of solar photovoltaic
(PV) capacity was installed in the USA
in 2017, down 30 per cent from 2016,
when a record 15 GW was installed,
according to new research from SEIA
and GTM Research. A further 10 GW
is expected to be installed in 2018, the
organisations say.
In 2017, installations in the residential
and utility-scale segments fell yearon
year. However, there was an “explosion”
in the non-residential sector,
which showed a 28 per cent growth,
GTM said. This was largely due to
community solar projects in states such
as Minnesota and Massachusetts.
The 2017 decline in the utility segment,
where installations were down
to 6234 MW, was largely expected,
GTM Research and SEIA said. Residential
installations fell 16 per cent to
2227 MW. This segment is forecast to
see a slight rebound in 2018.
GTM Research says that the imposition
of tariffs on solar panel imports
will impact the US market in the next
few years. It has reduced its base-case
forecast for 2018-2022 by 13 per cent
in response to the trade case. Total
installed US PV capacity, which has
now reached 53.3 GW, however, is still
expected to more than double over the
next five years, GTM said.
The Chilean National Energy Commission
says that blockchain technology
could help the country to run and
monitor the electricity grid.
The Energy Commission has announced
plans to use blockchain to
certify the quality and certainty of
the open data of the national energy
sector.
The move would put Chile at the
forefront of the use of blockchain in
the energy sector. So far the use of the
technology in the energy sector has
been limited to pilot projects and smallscale
projects by start-up companies.
The National Energy Commission
says that it will use blockchain as a
digital notary, allowing it to certify the
information it provides to third parties
in an open data portal. The use of blockchain
would increase confidence in the
transparency and accuracy of the information
provided, it argues.
Blockchain is a peer-to-peer digital
ledger that allows information to be
securely and transparently stored
without the need for a central broker
or information manager. Information
that is held on the ledger cannot be
modified.
“Public information is an important
input for the decision making of investments
and energy projects and
many of our users use this information
to decide technical, economic and
labour aspects,” the Energy Commission
said. “That is why, through the
use of this technology, we will raise
the levels of trust of our stakeholders,
investors and the general public that
consumes the data delivered at www.
energiaabierta.cl.”
n Acciona has signed an agreement
with the National Mining Company of
Chile (ENAMI) to supply it with renewable
energy for its operations. Acciona
will build a new solar photovoltaic
(PV) plant in the north of Chile to
fulfil the contract, which covers ENAMI’s
plants in the regions of Antofagasta,
Atacama and Coquimbo.
Russian intelligence agencies are
among those responsible for cyberattacks
on the US energy grid, according
to the US government.
US national security officials say the
FBI, the Homeland Security Department
and intelligence agencies have
determined that energy industry targets
were being deliberately chosen
and that Russian agencies had onducted
the attacks in order to carry out
network reconnaissance.
The Department of Homeland Security
and FBI said in a security alert
that a “multi-stage intrusion campaign
by Russian government cyber
actors” had targeted the networks of
small commercial facilities “where
they staged malware, conducted spear
phishing, and gained remote access
into energy sector networks.”
Venezuela rations
power in western states
Solar market shrinks
but outlook strong
Chile sees
potential in
blockchains
USA puts cyberattacks down
to Russia