Energy Storage Journal

Business & market strategies for energy storage & smart grid technologies

ENERGY BANKhow us utilities sce & duke energy are putting grid storage to the testWIND INSTRUMENTPower-to-gas technology for renewables examined

SECOND LIFEEV batteries deployed in stationary storage systems

BREAKING IT DOWNApplications for large-capacity electrical energy storage (EES)

Issue 2 | 2013

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‘The article looks athow the frequencyresponse market,facilitated by FERC’s “Pay for Performance”rule, is creating a demandfor high performance, fast-ramping energystorage systems in the US.’

1

March/13 | Issue 2 | ENERGYsTOraGeJOURNAL

EDITOR’S mESSAgE

STORAgE ON THE gRID

In the inaugural issue of Energy Storage Journal we published a

comprehensive overview of AB 2514, the legislation paving the way for

energy storage adoption in the state of California, in the US.

In this issue, we follow up with an in-depth look at some of the larger on-grid

energy storage projects that are being implemented across America. Utilities

and energy storage integrators and systems providers discuss how storage can

be used to overcome various challenges posed by integration of renewables into

the grid. The article looks at how the frequency response market, facilitated by

FERC’s ‘Pay for Performance’ rule, is creating a demand for high-performance,

fast-ramping energy storage systems in the US.

As many of you will be aware, integration of electricity into the grid that has been

generated by large, multi-MW solar and wind farms typically requires energy

storage, but this can entail different requirements from batteries and other

storage devices. This issue includes a summary of a recent IEC whitepaper that

clearly explains different storage categories in terms of energy versus power

density, discharge timeframes and different roles of energy storage, whether it is

grid-, demand- or generation-side.

As well as providing a comprehensive news round-up with the main global

energy storage headlines of recent weeks, ESJ will keep you up to speed in

terms of latest energy storage R&D projects and initiatives. This issue you can

read an in-depth analysis of one of the key news announcements in recent

months – how power-to-gas (P2G) technology designed for renewable energy

generation is moving from the lab and into the demonstration phase.

Issue two also includes a feature that explores growing efforts to establish a

market for out-of-warranty and used electric vehicle batteries for stationary

storage.

And for those of you looking for a comprehensive induction into energy storage

technologies and markets, and their relevance to renewables such as solar PV,

we have included an exclusive executive summary of a new report by EuPD

Research.

SARA VER-BRUGGEN EDITOR

ENERgystorageJOURNAL Business and market strategies for energy storage and smart grid technologies

ENERgystorageJOURNAL is a quarterly publication


Views expressed in ENERgystorageJOURNAL are the authors’ and not necessarily those of IPVEA

Published byInternational PV EquipmentAssociation (IPVEA)P.O. Box 1610, D-63406, Hanau, GermanyRegistration Number: Court Hanau VR 31714Tel: +1 407 856 9100www.ipvea.org

PublisherBryan EkusPublisher and Managing Director - International PV Equipment [email protected]

EditorSara [email protected]

AdvertisingTel: +1 631 673 0072 (office) Michael Mitchell ([email protected]) Cell: +1 516 593 3910

Charlotte Alexandra ([email protected]) Cell: +1 516 205 5197

DesignDoubletake Design Ltd. (UK)[email protected]

© 2013 International Photovoltaic Equipment Association (IPVEA)

Every effort has been to ensure that all the information in this publication is correct, the publisher will accept no responsibility for any errors, or opinion expressed, or omissions, for any loss or damage, cosequential or otherwise, suffered as a result of any material published.

Any warranty to the correctness and actuality can not be assumed. IPVEA reserves the right to make changes or additions to the information made available at any time without notice. © 2012 International Photovoltaic Equipment Association. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or part, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ENERgystorageJOURNALEnergy Storage Journal (business and market

strategies for energy storage and smart grid

technologies) is a new quarterly B2B publication that

covers global news, trends and developments in

energy storage and smart grid markets.

Worldwide growth in renewable energy generation

capacity, electricity-powered transportation and fast-

growing cities in developing economies will drive

exponential growth in energy storage and smart

grid technologies, products and applications in the

coming years.

ESJ is a key source of information to enable your

business or organisation to keep track of these

dynamic industries and the multitude of new

opportunities they present.

target readership � Renewables energy industry (executives from solar

PV, CSP, wind, biomass etc.)

� Energy utilities and grid owners

Distributed network operators

� High performance and advanced battery

manufacturers (lead acid, lithium, ion flow, ZEBRA

etc)

� Fuel cell and electrolyzer producers

Suppliers of flywheel, thermal and other storage

technologies and systems

� Suppliers of energy storage management and

control systems

� Automotive manufacturers

� Producers of equipment and materials used for

energy storage production

� Policy makers and shapers

� Universities and research institutes

� Consultants and analysts

� Venture capitalists and other investors

� Associations and alliances representing energy

storage, renewables & conventional energy sectors

EACh ISSUE INCLUDES � Global news round-up

� Exclusive in depth features on new and

promising energy storage applications and

technologies

� Case studies of advances in energy storage

production to bring high performance, cost-

effective energy storage products to market

� Analysis and forecasts on different energy

storage markets and technologies from

leading consultants and experts in the field

� Examination of policy around the world that

is enabling investment and growth in energy

storage and smart grid technologies

� Updated events calendar


To discuss how your organisation can work with ENERgystorageJOURNAL contact the Publisher and Managing Director Bryan Ekus by email: [email protected]

For advertising opportunities, contact: Michael Mitchell, Tel: +1 631 673 0072 / Cell: +1 516 593 3910 / [email protected]

Charlotte Alexandra, Tel: +1 631 673 0072 / Cell: +1 516 205 5197 / [email protected]

INSIDE4 NEWS

Latest deals, projects and announcements from the global energy storage and smart grid market

10 NEWS ANALYSISEfforts to bring to market innovative power-to-gas (P2G) technology for renewables generation

14 ON ThE RADARArgonne ‘Nat Lab’ leads US energy storage R&D initiative and European consortium develops zinc-air battery technology for utility market

18 MARKET ANALYSISExecutive summary of EuPD Research’s new energy storage report, exclusive to ESJ

24 COVER STORYAdvanced battery technologies for the utility-scale energy storage market in the US

32 FEATUREExploring secondary applications and market opportunities for EV batteries in stationary storage applications

39 FEATUREApplications for large-capacity electrical energy storage (ESS) to support renewable energy integration

44 TEChNOLOGY FOCUSAdvanced battery technologies for utility-scale energy storage applications

48 EVENTS Details of conferences, exhibitions and seminars in the energy storage and smart grid calendar

10

24 39

turin, italy

ABB launches combined charging system (CCS) for EV market

New combined charging system (CCS)

fast chargers from ABB combine industry

standardisation with fast charging

convenience to support next generation of

EVs.

ABB, a leading power and automation

technology group, today supports the new

CCS standard for electrical vehicles (EV)

with the expansion of its EV fast charging

product portfolio to include additional

functionality and multi-standard support.

The new multi-standard functionality will

be available in Europe in Q2 2013 and

will include a special CCS version for car

dealerships, followed by a targeted launch

in the US in the second half of 2013.

The expansion of the ABB fast charging

portfolio brings together European

standardisation and fast charging

technology reducing infrastructure

complexity and dramatically improving

charging compatibility across all EV

brands.

‘ABB’s expanded portfolio enhanced with

its cloud-based connectivity services is

a natural solution for EV infrastructure

providers to effortlessly incorporate

any charging standard – be it CCS or

CHAdeMO – into their charging network

without absorbing the high costs of

ENERgy STORAgE NEwS

round-up of key deals, proJects and announcements in the gloBal energy storage market

software integration and testing’, says

Hans Streng, head of ABB’s product group

EV charging infrastructure, a part of the

company’s discrete automation and motion

division.

ABB was the first company to demonstrate

a working prototype of the CCS standard

at EV26 in Los Angeles and at eCarTec in

Munich in 2012. ABB’s EV fast charging

portfolio for the charge-and-go segment will

continue to feature the Terra 51 CHAdeMO

fast charging station, as well as a single

port 50 kW CCS fast charging station and

the 50 kW multi-standard CHAdeMO &

CCS station, optionally equipped with fast

alternating current (AC) outlet.

A 20 kW variant will be launched in both

single CCS and multistandard outlets later

this year as a logical addition to the current

CHAdeMO 20 kW station for offices and

retail locations.

CCS is a global open standard adopted

by European and North American leading

automotive manufacturers. The new CCS

capable fast chargers are part of the

wider interoperability testing programs

for all next generation electric vehicles

and are designed to significantly improve

user experience by providing EV drivers

with increased assurance surrounding

charging availability and convenience. All

chargers in the portfolio will continue to be

supported by ABB’s cloud-based charging

management platform enabling remote

management and extensive interfacing with

any available payment method charging

service provider network or smart grid

system.

www.abb.com

pittsBurgh, pennsylvania, us

Aquion begins pilot production of advanced batteries

US start-up Aquion Energy recently began

pilot manufacturing of its batteries on a line

in Pennsylvania.

The batteries will be sampled to Aquion’s

partners and potential customers for

demonstration projects and evaluations.

The company is leasing space within a

large existing facility in the East Huntingdon

Township from the Regional Industrial

Development Corporation of Southwestern

Pennsylvania. As part of a first phase

manufacturing commitment at this site,

Aquion aims to create over 400 high-tech

manufacturing jobs by the end of 2015.

Initially the firm is targeting microgrid

and off-grid markets worldwide with its

technology, including backup power

applications. Later this year, Aquion plans

to move into high-volume production in

anticipation of supplying the utility energy

storage market in 2014.

In June 2012, Aquion completed testing

and demonstration requirements for

a Department of Energy (DoE) grant

programme with its low cost, grid-scale,

ambient energy storage device. The

testing demonstrated a grid-connected,

high voltage, 13.5 kWh system with a

4-hour discharge. Additionally, testing

characterised the energy storage

capacity of the units, the response to

various signals, compliance with utility

interconnection standards, battery and

power conversion system efficiency, and

effectiveness under various cycles typical

of the applications being validated.

Aquion was spun out of Carnegie Mellon

University in 2009 and is headquartered

in Pittsburgh. The battery is based on

a propriety aqueous hybrid ion (AHI)

chemistry, to provide superior life, safety,

durability, and low system costs.

www.aquionenergy.com

hayward, california, us

DoD awards Primus Power energy storage demonstration contract

Primus Power, a developer of multi-MW

energy storage technology, is to supply

an energy storage system for a microgrid

at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in

Miramar, California.

Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems

(IDS) business awarded the contract to

California-headquartered Primus Power in

January 2013. Primus will work closely with

Raytheon to supply the ‘zinc bromide flow

battery installation for islanding and backup

power’ project, funded by the Department

of Defense (DoD) Environmental Security

Technology Certification Program (ESCTP).

At MCAS Miramar a 250 kW, 1 MWh

EnergyPod storage system, supplied

by Primus Power, will be integrated with

an existing 230 kW photovoltaic (PV)

system. The EnergyPods incorporate

Primus’ zinc-flow batteries. The combined

microgrid system will demonstrate several

capabilities including reducing peak

electrical demand typically experienced in

weekday afternoons and providing power

to critical military systems when grid power

is not available.

MCAS Miramar is home to the 3rd Marine

Aircraft Wing, the aviation element of

the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Dependable power is essential to the unit’s

operation.

The project is part of wider DoD plans to

install microgrids at stationary bases to

sustain operations independent of what

is happening on the larger utility grid. A

microgrid is a self-contained electrical

grid comprised of energy generation,

distribution, storage and loads all managed

by an automated control system on

a remote or secure location. Energy

storage systems can be used to integrate

intermittent solar and wind energy into a

small grid.

www.primuspower.com www.raytheon.com

Aquion Energy’s battery, which can be stacked up Source: Aquion Energy

news 5

MARCH/13 | Issue 2 | ENERGYsTORAGeJOURNAL

port washington, new york, us

Watt Fuel Cell signs strategic licensing and supply agreement with Parker Hannifin

In January 2013 Watt Fuel Cell, a

developer of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)

systems, signed a licensing and supply

agreement with Parker Hannifin, a supplier

of motion and control technologies.

Under the agreement, Parker Hannifin’s

energy systems business will produce a

family of propane-driven SOFC-based

products for several markets, including

residential.

Watt Fuel Cell, in New York state, was set

up in 2011 to commercialise advanced

SOFCs. The tubular structured cells have

good thermal cycling properties making

them suitable for providing backup power.

Commercial market applications include

portable power, such as emergency

backup power for municipal and first aid.

The company is also investigating

residential and distributed grid (DG)

applications, for example where fuel cell

systems are integrated into new home

builds with a micro-combined heat and

power (CHP) unit. The SOFCs operate

on the fuels already being supplied to the

home, including natural gas, propane and

kerosene.

Watt Fuel Cell, which has access to an

extensive patent portfolio, has spent the

past two years developing a scalable

production process. In December 2012

the New York Energy Research and

Development Authority (NYSERDA)

awarded the firm a $100,000 (€75,000)

six-month grant to assess the energy

savings associated with the company’s

automated production process for making

the SOFCs. Watt Fuel Cell is scaling up a

stack production process to prepare for

initial rollouts and product sampling during

2013, having completed system testing on

a 500 W propane-powered unit.

Parker Hannifin will make the SOFC

systems available to OEMs in order to

gain feedback ahead of market launch

and is also handling certification and UL

procedures, ready for meeting commercial

order volumes in late 2013 and 2014.

Watt Fuel Cell is also working with a

partner on military applications, which

should be announced shortly.

Like batteries, SOFCs cover a broad

technology base. Company president Dr

Caine Finnerty explains: ‘Planar SOFC

technologies are suitable for 100 kW

type applications, as stacking the plates

is a relatively easy way to scale up size.

At the other end SOFC technology is

proving suitable for really small charger-

type applications. Ours ranges from about

250 W up to 2 kW, and potentially 3 kW;

a power range that has great residential

potential,’ says Finnerty.

The company’s SOFC systems will be

price compatible with existing storage

technologies when they begin to hit the

market in around 12 months from now,

says Finnerty.

With annual sales exceeding $13 billion

in fiscal year 2012, Parker Hannifin is the

world’s leading diversified manufacturer

of motion and control technologies and

systems.

www.wattfuelcell.com www.parker.com

turin, italy michigan, us

Electro Power Systems expands into US market with hydrogen storage system

Italian energy storage developer and

supplier Electro Power Systems (EPS) has

entered the US market with its portable

fuel cell storage system.

The company will supply its technology

through US distributor VP Energy.

The companies signed an exclusive

manufacturing, operations and distribution

agreement in January 2013. The

agreement builds on earlier sales.

EPS has developed a robust, self-

contained, autonomous recharging fuel

cell and management system, ElectroSelf,

to provide clean and efficient energy

storage. The system produces its own fuel

in the form of hydrogen, from water, using

alkaline cell technology. The deal with

ESP will enable VP Energy, an automotive

industry supplier, to expand its energy

storage business. In Italy, ESP has the

capacity to produce at least a thousand

units annually. The ElectroSelf system will

also be assembled in the US, under the

agreement with VP Energy. ESP informed

ESJ that it is ready to begin scaling

production in 2013 depending on market

demand.

ElectroSelf stores energy from the grid or

renewables excess and releases energy

when there is a power dip or outage.

This enables the system to minimise

the mismatch in energy production and

consumption. EPS, founded in 2005, is

targeting back-up power applications

in several markets with its storage

systems, including telecommunications,

utilities, businesses, institutions and

governments as well as smart-grid and

off-grid opportunities, including renewables

extension and optimisation.

Key markets EPS supplies include Europe

and Scandinavia, North America, India,

China and parts of Africa. The company

is the only supplier in the world with a

full product family of 1.5, 3, 6 and 12 kW

fuel cell systems which are commercially

available and CE-certified (EU), CSA-

certified (USA) or CTTL-certified (China).

www.electropowersystems.com www.vpenergy.com

The ElectroSelf system produces its own fuel in the form of hydrogen, from water. It stores energy from the grid or renewables excess and releases energy when there is a power dip or outage. Source: ESP

energy storage news

menomonee falls, wisconsin, us seoul, south korea

ZBB Energy ships storage system to South Korea

US supplier of energy storage systems

ZBB Energy has shipped its energy

storage system to a partner in Asia-Pacific.

The ZBB EnerSystem, ordered by Lotte

Chemical in South Korea, incorporates

ZBB’s flow batteries and its power and

control electronics.

The Wisconsin-headquartered company is

working with Lotte Chemical to distribute

its products in Asia-Pacific markets. The

unit shipped is a lab system that will

allow Lotte Chemical to continue gaining

knowledge at the system level and

demonstrate the products to potential

customers.

ZBB Energy designs, develops, and

manufactures energy storage, power

electronic systems and engineered custom

and semi-custom products targeted at

the growing global demand for distributed

renewable energy, energy efficiency, power

quality, and grid modernisation.

ZBB and its power electronics subsidiary,

Tier Electronics, have developed a

portfolio of integrated power management

platforms that combine power and

energy controls and energy storage to

optimize renewable energy sources and

conventional power inputs in on-grid and

off-grid applications.

www.zbbenergy.com

toronto, canada

Toronto Hydro launches community energy storage project

A consortium in Canada has established

a community energy storage project to

enable utility partner Toronto Hydro to

evaluate the benefits of energy storage for

the electricity grid.

The project, announced earlier this

year, is located at the Roding Arena

and Community Centre in North York.

Ecamion Inc is leading the project and

has designed and integrated the storage

system to include thermal management

communications and control. Dow Kokam

has developed the lithium-polymer nickel

manganese cobalt cells and battery

chemistry. The University of Toronto is

managing the control, protection and

power management technology, including

algorithms to enable an intelligent system.

Funding is provided by the consortium

partners and Sustainable Development

Technology Canada. Toronto’s

infrastructure is aging, including the

electrical assets that power the city.

Much of this infrastructure was installed

between the 1940s and 1960s. As the city

continues to grow, the use of storage can

improve power quality, keep voltage levels

constant, facilitate integration of renewable

generation assets, and electric vehicles

and defer capital work or grid upgrades.

In community energy storage (CES),

batteries installed at the customer level

offer more direct benefit in reliable electrical

supply. The compact unit will provide 250

kWh of storage. Three of the battery cells

can power a fridge for one hour. The cells

are placed in Ecamion battery modules.

The CES system at the Roding Arena

and Community Centre is comprised of

48 battery modules. Fully charged the

CES system could provide electricity to a

typical community centre, a light industrial

complex or small residential street.

In future, the storage unit can be used

to help alleviate stress on the grid during

peak times and also provide power to

connected homes in the event of a power

interruption from the station. The CES

system is also equipped to monitor grid

conditions and respond appropriately by

taking in electricity during off-peak times,

or releasing energy if needed.

‘An opportunity like this comes once every

40 years. Toronto Hydro’s distribution

grid is facing a number of challenges and

community energy storage can address

some of these challenges instead of

developing one solution per problem,’ says

Ivano Labricciosa, vice president of asset

management, Toronto Hydro.

www.torontohydro.com www.ecamion.com www.youtube.com/watch?v=66r9LrUFbow

charlotte, north carolina and austin, texas, us

Notrees energy storage project starts up

An energy storage unit for a wind farm in

western Texas came online in January.

The system, supplied by Xtreme Power,

is part of Duke Energy’s 153 MW Notrees

wind power project. The integrated facility

at Notrees provides both environmentally

friendly and flexible capacity to the Electric

Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which

operates the electrical grid in Texas and

manages 75% of the state’s deregulated

market.

The 36 MW battery storage system is

capable of deploying fast-acting reserves

to support ERCOT grid reliability and

helping the independent system operator

(ISO) maintain supply and demand balance

with near-instantaneous feedback of

frequency changes or other unexpected

events.

In addition to other energy management

services, the storage unit supports wind

farm performance as it can absorb power

from the wind farm during times of low

demand or high curtailment and release

power when it is most beneficial to the

market.

At the control panel of the community energy storage unit, Leo Canale, technical director at eCamion, does some preliminary tests. With 48 battery modules, the unit is capable of powering a small street for one hour. Toronto Hydro plans to monitor this technology, and validate its benefits to Toronto’s electrical grid. Source: CNW Group/Toronto Hydro Corporation

news 7


Xtreme Power’s innovative control system,

XACT, will manage real-time performance

and response of the system in response to

site and grid conditions.

In another recent deal Xtreme Power is

supplying an energy storage system for a

wind project in Illinois in the US.

The energy storage installation, for

Invenergy’s Grand Ridge wind project

site, will supply clean renewable power

to the new frequency response market

administered by regional transmission

group PJM. Efficient frequency regulation is

vital for PJM’s grid reliability.

Xtreme Power’s 1.5 MW Regulation Power

Management system will use long-life

lithium-titanate battery technology and

an automatic gain control (AGC) signal

to provide instantaneous energy delivery,

enabling Invenergy to help balance supply

and demand.

Founded in November 2004, Xtreme

Power designs, engineers, installs, and

monitors integrated energy storage

and power management systems for

independent power producers (IPP),

transmission and distribution (T&D) utilities

and commercial and industrial end users.

Xtreme Power has exclusive arrangements

with large battery makers, using batteries

suitable for different energy storage

applications, which can be integrated with

its energy storage management systems.

www.duke-energy.com www.xtremepower.com www.invenergyllc.com

Bielefeld, germany

Gildemeister Energy Solutions receives storage and solar orders worth € 29.2 million

Bielefeld-based Gildemeister received

orders worth € 29.2 million for renewable

energy production and storage projects in

Europe in December 2012.

In the field of energy storage technology,

Gildemeister will supply a vanadium redox

flow battery for the SmartRegion Pellworm

project of the energy supplier Eon. With

a capacity of 1.6 MWh, the CellCube

stores energy from wind power and solar

installations. The renewable energy is

fed, according to consumption, into the

regional electricity grid and ensures a self-

sufficient base load supply for the third

largest island in the Schleswig Holstein

Wattenmeer national park.

The solar projects include a 6.5 MW solar

farm in Italy and an 8 MW solar park;

Romania’s first. A second project will be

set up west of the capital.

http://ag.gildemeister.com

milwaukee, wisconsin, us waltham, massachusetts, us hangzhou, zheJiang province, china

Johnson Controls files appeal of A123 bankruptcy sale

On 17 December 2012 Johnson Controls

filed an appeal in bankruptcy court

concerning the sale order approving

Wanxiang’s purchase of A123 Systems on

11 December 2012.

Johnson Controls is appealing the sale

order to obtain a breakup fee and expense

reimbursement to which it is entitled under

that agreement and which were previously

approved by the bankruptcy court. A123

was directed to place the breakup fee and

expense reimbursement in escrow after

A123’s creditors’ committee suggested

to the court that Johnson Controls was

lobbying against the sale of A123 to

Wanxiang.

Earlier in 2012 Wanxiang failed to acquire

A123 earlier prior to bankruptcy. Johnson

Controls has challenged the sale on the

grounds that national security questions

tied to the core technology used in all

of A123’s businesses represent a risk

to the sale which cannot be dismissed

until resolved by the government review

process.

On 11 December A123 received approval

from United States Bankruptcy Court for

the District of Delaware for the sale of

most of its assets to Wanxiang America

Corporation, part of China’s Wanxiang

Group, for $256.6 million (€192 million).

Wanxiang, which is China’s largest

automotive parts maker, is seeking to

buy most of A123’s assets including its

automotive, energy-grid and commercial

businesses.

A123, in Massachusetts, listed assets of

$459.8 million and debt of $376 million

as of 31 August in court documents. The

sale is subject certain closing conditions,

including approval from the Committee for

Foreign Investment in the United States

(CFIUS).

Excluded from the asset purchase

agreement with Wanxiang is A123’s

Michigan-based government business,

including all US military contracts, which

would be acquired for $2.25 million by

Navitas Systems through a separate asset

purchase agreement.

In January 2013 it was reported in the

Financial Times that Wanxiang is working

on a strategy to overcome attempts to

block its acquisition. The company is

looking to set up an independent trust to

purchase the commercial business assets

of A123 Systems. Wanxiang would then

buy the assets from the holding trust. Such

an arrangement would need the approval

of CFIUS.

A123 Systems develops and produces

lithium-ion batteries and energy storage

systems for transportation, electric

grid and commercial applications. The

company’s proprietary Nanophosphate

technology uses nanoscale materials

developed by Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT).

www.wanxiang.com www.johnsoncontrols.com www.a123systems.com

energy storage news

detroit, michigan and raleigh, north carolina, us

General Motors (GM) and ABB demonstrate Chevrolet Volt battery reuse for home energy storage

GM and ABB have demonstrated a

potential reuse application for electric

vehicle (EV) batteries.

The uninterruptable power supply

and grid power balancing system was

demonstrated by repackaging five used

Chevrolet Volt batteries into a modular

unit capable of providing two hours of

electricity for the equivalent of a small

number of homes.

The prototype unit provides 25 kW of

power and 50 kWh of energy. This year

Duke Energy will test the repackaged

Chevrolet Volt batteries on a part of its grid

to pilot the technology in a project with GM

and ABB.

‘GM’s battery development extends

throughout the entire life of the battery,

including secondary use,’ says Pablo

Valencia, GM senior manager of battery

lifecycle management. ‘In many cases,

when an EV battery has reached the end

of its life in an automotive application, only

30% or less of its life has been used. This

leaves a tremendous amount of life that

can be applied to other applications like

powering a structure before the battery is

recycled.’

GM is exploring, with various partners,

different applications for reusing advanced

EV batteries and market requirements

for used EV batteries in secondary

applications.

Back in 2011 GM and ABB demonstrated

how a Chevrolet Volt battery pack could be

used to collect energy and feed it back to

the grid and deliver supplemental power to

homes or businesses.

During the November demonstration, the

energy storage system was run in a remote

power back-up mode where 100% of

the power for the facility came from Volt

batteries through ABB’s energy storage

inverter system. A similar application

could one day be used to power a group

of homes or small commercial buildings

during a power outage, allow for storage of

power during inexpensive periods for use

during expensive peak demand, or help

make up for gaps in solar, wind or other

renewable power generation.

These functions, along with frequency

regulation on electric distribution systems,

could potentially be used by utilities to

reduce cost to customers and improve

the quality of power delivery. These

applications are referred to as community

energy storage to distinguish them from

substation-size energy storage projects.

ABB’s research centre in Raleigh, North

Carolina, conducted the R&D, and the

company’s medium voltage business

unit is managing the proof-of-concept

testing, market research and product

development.

ABB recently teamed up with the US

divisions of Nissan and Sumitomo

Corporation and 4R Energy to evaluate

the reuse of Nissan LEAF batteries. The

team is developing a LEAF battery storage

prototype with a capacity of at least 50

kWh, enough to supply 15 average homes

with electricity for two hours.

4R Energy is a joint venture between

Japan’s Nissan and Sumitomo that was set

up in 2010 to conduct research and field

tests on the second-life use of batteries

that have been used previously in EVs.

www.gm.com www.abb.com www.duke-energy.com

Market for PV energy storage to reach $2 billion by 2018, according to Nanomarkets

Consultancy firm Nanomarkets forecasts

the market for energy storage to

accompany solar photovoltaic (PV)

generation will reach almost $2 billion (€1.5

billion) in revenues by 2018.

The report, titled Solar Storage Markets

– 2013, notes the low cost of lead-acid

batteries, which it says will account for

almost half of sales in 2018 at $950

million and will remain the most popular

technology. But the report also predicts an

in interest in the use of lithium ion batteries,

sales of which are expected to reach $235

million by 2018.

‘Feed-in tariffs are declining in key

geographies giving PV users an incentive

to store the energy they produce. Battery

suppliers are therefore expecting the

market for batteries for residential PV users

to explode and are designing specialised

systems to meet the demand,’ states

Nanomarkets.

In California, utilities are facing regulatory

requirements to include storage in new

facilities and similar regulations may come

into force in Germany, driving demand

for stationary storage technologies in the

coming years.

The report covers other battery

technologies, including lead-carbon,

sodium sulfur, sodium-nickel-chloride and

flow batteries, as well as ultra-batteries

and supercapacitors. The report looks at

applications for both residential and utility-

scale PV plants.

The report predicts that lead-carbon

batteries will improve margins and will

generate an additional $135 million by

2018. Lithium batteries are already being

sold for residential and PV micro-grid

applications in the US and Germany, and

the report predicts that Chinese energy

storage firms will likely focus on this

technology as a result of the domestic

lithium production industry.

However, NanoMarkets warns that the

future of lithium batteries will depend

heavily on continued government research

and development (R&D) subsidies, and

states that without further development

lithium batteries remain too expensive for

many applications.

www.nanomarkets.com

news 9


In Germany two demonstration power-to-

gas (P2G) plants designed to store excess

electricity generated by renewable sources

have begun operation.

The amount of electricity generated each

year by renewables is rising, but the

intermittency of some of these sources,

such as wind and solar, poses challenges

for the grid. Banking excess electricity

to feed into the grid at a future point,

when it is needed, can be achieved using

various storage technologies such as

batteries. However, P2G plants open up

the possibility of using this excess energy in

different ways. In Germany, which has the

largest installed capacity of wind and solar,

several demonstration P2G plants are being

evaluated for their smart grid potential.

Niederraussem project P2G plants use electrolysis to split water

into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical

energy. In January 2013 German utility

RWE Power began testing a proton

exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser

for the storage of renewable electricity in

a facility at its coal innovation centre in

Niederaussem, Germany. The electrolyser

has a nominal capacity of 100 kW. But it

also has a peak capacity of 300 kW for

overloading, for limited periods of time,

wINDINSTRUmENTpower-to-gas technology for renewables generation emerges from the lab

Close-up of the PEM stack, part of the electrolyser system that Siemens has supplied to RWE for evaluating in the CO2RRECT project.

Source: Siemens

NEwS ANALySIS

to absorb the fluctuations of renewable

energy plants that can go from producing

very little or no electricity at all, to ramping

acutely.

Siemens product manager within the

company’s hydrogen solutions business

Andreas Reiner explains: ‘The PEM

electrolyser manages to be both secure

but also flexible, which is important when

intermittent renewable energy sources are

plugged into the system.’

The PEM separates the areas in which

oxygen and hydrogen emerge. At the

front and back of the membrane metal

electrodes are connected to the positive

and negative poles of the voltage source.

The membrane is made from a polymer

foil able to provide ionic conductivity while

keeping the oxygen and hydrogen gases

separate.

Fast response times, in milliseconds, are

achieved by combining the properties

of the PEM electrolyser with Siemens’

industrial control technology. The system

will be tested from January to October

2013. The PEM module will be evaluated

for its ability to function as the amount of

power is ramped up and at partial load,

to see the effect of frequent load changes

on the functioning of the electrolysis

system and on the quality of the hydrogen

obtained.

Reiner says: ‘The project has already

carried out lab tests of the PEM

system using a real wind profile. But,

at RWE’s Niederaussem facility it will

be demonstrated in a real operating

environment. Over the next several months

the whole system will also be tested to see

how it performs in real working conditions.’

250 kW demonstrator Compared with PEM systems, pressurised

alkaline electrolysers represent a very

mature technology that is the current

standard for large-scale electrolysis. It is

this technology that is the core of a P2G

demonstration plant that launched in

December 2012. The 250 kW plant has

been developed by German Center for

Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research

(ZSW) with partners Fraunhofer IWES and

Solarfuel, which intends to commercialise

the technology. It expands upon an earlier

smaller 25 kW system.

The plant is designed to respond to the

fluctuating and intermittent load profiles of

wind and solar using pressurised alkaline

electrolysis, able to produce hydrogen up

to 11bar. The advantage is that it uses

a commercially available and proven

technology. The plant’s performance will be

evaluated during 2013.

Applications for hydrogen In the next three to five years, P2G plants,

based on ZSW’s technology, will be scaled

up from the 2-20 MW range. Solarfuel is

already constructing a 6 MW power-to-

gas plant for automaker Audi in Werlte,

Lower Saxony. The knowledge gained

from ZSW’s 250 kW research plant will

be incorporated into Audi’s facility, which

should be operational later this year. Power

from four 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines

will be used to produce fuel for 1,500

turbo-compressed natural gas (TCNG)

Audi A3 vehicles for a year. Audi plans to

begin serial production in 2014.

The gas grid could provide storage

applications for solar and wind power.

Once excess electricity generated by

renewables is turned to hydrogen via

electrolysis, it can then be converted into

methane gas with carbon dioxide. This

synthetic gas can be fed into the gas grid,

whereas only a small amount of hydrogen

– up to 3% – can be fed into the grid

infrastructure due to gas regulations.

The PEM demonstrator supplied by

Siemens for RWE’s facility is part of the

€18 million CO2RRECT (CO2-Reaction

using Regenerative Energies and Catalytic

Technologies) project, which is supported

by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education

and Research (BMBF).

Flexible gasCO2RRECT is investigating different

ways that hydrogen can be deployed.

For instance, some of it can be used with

carbon dioxide from coal plants flue gas to

produce methane, in the adjacent catalyst

facility. Hydrogen can also be stored in the

form of natural gas and, when required,

turned into electricity or made available to

the heating market.

NEWS ANALYSIS 11


‘THE PEm ELEcTROLySER mANAgES TO bE bOTH SEcURE bUT ALSO fLExIbLE, wHIcH IS ImPORTANT wHEN INTERmITTENT RENEwAbLE ENERgy SOURcES ARE PLUggED INTO THE SySTEm.’

Alternatively, hydrogen could be used

for making further materials, such

as methanol, for the production of

chemicals. Together with carbon dioxide,

hydrogen can be converted into chemical

intermediates such as formic acid or

carbon monoxide. From carbon monoxide

it is possible to produce isocyanate,

a building block in the production of

polyurethane, a widely manufactured

plastic. To establish how carbon dioxide, a

waste greenhouse gas, could, in future, be

converted into a raw material for chemicals

production is part of wider R&D efforts by

Bayer and its partners. The CO2RRECT

project enables Siemens to demonstrate

the potential of PEM electrolyser

technology in a practical application.

PEM v alkaline Despite it being a less mature technology,

there are several benefits of PEM

technology over classical alkaline

electrolyser devices. These include the

absence of corrosive electrolytes, good

chemical and mechanical stability, high

protonic conductivity and high gas-

impermeability. PEM electrolysers achieve

excellent gas separation for high quality

hydrogen production, high current density

at higher efficiency. The reduced number of

moving parts in PEM electrolyser devices

allows for easier maintenance. PEM

systems can also achieve an excellent

partial-load range and respond rapidly to

fluctuating power inputs.

Scaling up In countries that are banking on

renewables, especially wind, for large-scale

electricity generation P2G plants could

be an important future storage asset.

The technology also benefits Germany

because it has extensive natural gas

storage reservoirs. E.ON is among the

first utilities to invest in a pilot-scale P2G

plant for a renewables application. Last

year the company chose Hydronics, a

global supplier of hydrogen generation

equipment, to build a 2 MW facility in

Falkenhagen, which will use its HyStat

alkaline electrolyser.

The plant will bank excess power that is

generated by wind farms, producing about

360m³ of hydrogen an hour. The hydrogen

will be fed into the natural gas pipeline

at around 2% by volume, at a maximum

operating pressure of 55bar, effectively

storing and transporting surplus renewable

energy.

‘THE PROjEcT HAS ALREADy cARRIED OUT LAb TESTS Of THE PEm SySTEm USINg A REAL wIND PROfILE. bUT, AT RwE’S NIEDERAUSSEm fAcILITy IT wILL bE DEmONSTRATED IN A REAL OPERATINg ENVIRONmENT.’

The pilot includes the engineering,

construction, commissioning and start-up

of a containerised 2 MW electrolyser and

compression plant. In addition the project

will provide a power substation, metering

station, hydrogen pipeline and natural gas

grid access station. AEG Power Solutions

is supplying rectifiers for the plant.

German independent power producer (IPP)

Enertrag is also a P2G pioneer, having

partnered with Swedish utility Vattenfall,

Total and Deutsche Bahn on a 6 MW

hybrid power station in Prenzlau, Germany.

After converting excess wind energy to

hydrogen, the plant uses the hydrogen

and biogas to generate heat and power.

An alkaline electrolyser is used in the plant,

which has been operational since 2011.

Future

By the latter part of this decade P2G

could start to establish itself as a flexible

storage technology in power grids as more

electricity is produced from renewable

sources. Collaborative efforts by partners

within the CO2RRECT project and those

undertaken by ZSW, Fraunhofer IWES

and Solarfuel are taking this promising

technology and adapting it for the

demands of renewable generation.

Between them, these initiatives are

opening up new opportunities both for

mature and new, advanced electrolyser

technologies. However, there are still

many technical and regulatory challenges

involved in the setting up and operation of

such storage plants that early adopters,

like E.ON, are starting to address.

LiNKS For FUrTHEr rESEArCH

www.rwe.com www.siemens.com www.bayer.com www.zsw-bw.de www.solar-fuel.net www.eon.com www.enertrag.com www.hydronics.com

NEwS ANALySIS

ADVANTAGES oF PEM ELECTroLySEr TECHNoLoGy iNCLUDE:

- No corrosive electrolytes

- Excellent gas separation for high-quality hydrogen production

- High current density at higher efficiency

- Fewer moving parts for easier maintenance

Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte Paris, France

Conference 30 Sep – 04 Oct 2013Exhibition 01 Oct – 03 Oct 2013

www.photovoltaic-conference.comwww.photovoltaic-exhibition.com

© Thorsten Schmitt

EU PVSEC 201328th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy

Conference and Exhibition

US initiative secures $120 million to research next-gen storage technology

Developing batteries five times more

powerful, and significantly cheaper to

make, is the focus of a public-private

research initiative launched in the US.

To make electric transportation and

electricity generation from renewables

truly competitive in the longer term, much

more is needed from storage technologies

compared with today’s batteries. An

initiative in the US is harnessing the

research resource of five national

laboratories, five universities and industrial

companies to develop batteries that

have the potential to outperform current

technologies. In short, the aim is to develop

batteries that are five times more powerful,

five times cheaper, within five years.

The Joint Center for Energy Storage

Research (JCESR), launched in November

2012, is one of four energy innovation

hubs launched by the Department of

Energy (DoE) since 2010. Argonne National

Laboratory (ANL), in Illinois, is leading

the public-private partnership, which will

be supported with an award of up to

$120 million (€88 million) over five years.

As several universities in the Illinois are

partners on the programme, JCSER has

earned speculation in local press reports

that the state is laying the foundations of a

‘Silicon Valley of battery science’.

DoE national laboratories and DoE-funded

university research programmes have

been responsible for advances in battery

technology. For instance, work at Argonne

helped make the Chevy Volt battery

possible. Pooling the research of the

national labs and universities could push

the US ahead in the global energy storage

industry.

‘Advancing next generation battery and

energy storage technologies for electric

and hybrid cars and the electricity grid are

critical to keeping America competitive

in the global economy,’ Dr Linda Horton,

director of the materials sciences and

engineering division in the DOE’s Office

of Science, told ESJ. ‘A goal of JCSER is

to accelerate the development of energy

storage solutions, improving grid storage

to increase efficiency and to allow effective

integration of intermittent renewable energy

sources. At the same time, this hub will

facilitate advances in battery technology

that can move the transportation sector

toward cleaner, more flexibly sourced, grid-

based power.’

‘ADVANcINg NExT gENERATION bATTERy AND ENERgy STORAgE TEcHNOLOgIES fOR ELEcTRIc AND HybRID cARS AND THE ELEcTRIcITy gRID ARE cRITIcAL TO kEEPINg AmERIcA cOmPETITIVE IN THE gLObAL EcONOmy.’

remit JCESR’s remit encompasses three

R&D areas in electrochemical storage;

multivalent intercalation, chemical

transformation and non-aqueous redox

flow. Multivalent intercalation focuses

on working ions, such as magnesium or

yttrium, which carry twice or triple the

charge of lithium and have the potential to

store two or three times as much energy.

Chemical transformation is based on using

the chemical reaction of the working ion

to store many times the energy of today’s

lithium-ion batteries. Non-aqueous redox

flow is based on reversibly changing the

charge state of ions held in solution in large

storage tanks; the very high capacity of

this approach is well-suited to the needs of

the grid.

JCESR is not concerned with incremental

improvements of existing technologies,

whether commercial or lab-proven. The

industrial partners chosen have the

resources and market reach to swiftly

commercialise new energy storage

technologies that result from the initiative.

By focusing on these areas next generation

technologies have the potential of

delivering five times the energy density

at one-fifth of the cost needed to bring

electric transportation and large-scale

solar and wind generation to competitive

levels. The scientific impact, while primarily

aimed at batteries, could also influence

technologies in other areas such as fuel

cells.

Within the three R&D areas JCESR will

tackle specific research challenges.

In multivalent intercalation these are

mobility in host structures, mobility across

interfaces as well as stable and selective

interfaces. In chemical transformation

these are phase transformation and

juxtaposition, functional electrolytes and

bATTERy bONANZA

stable and selective interfaces. In non-

aqueous redox flow these are novel redox

species, ionic mobility, interfacial transport

and stable and selective membranes.

JCESR will use basic research techniques

developed in the last decade to make

new materials and characterise their

performance at the atomic level for the

three energy storage concepts. Virtual

batteries will be computer-designed

and analysed for projected performance

and potential shortcomings. Cell design

and prototyping will deliver at least

two prototypes – one for grid and one

for transportation – for scale-up and

manufacturing.

The underlying principles governing

electricity storage are common for both

transportation and stationary applications,

hence the exploration of both within the

programme. However, as prototypes for

transportation and the grid must meet very

different operational standards, they will

be designed and prototyped separately,

explains the DoE.

Facilities and resources JCESR has begun research in existing

facilities on ANL’s and partner institutions’

campuses. Funding for JCESR includes

equipment support for a wide range of

instrumentation to complement existing

capabilities at the partner institutions.

The state of Illinois will build a $35 million

building, the Energy Innovation Center, on

the Argonne campus to house JCESR. It is

expected to be ready in 2014-2015.

In addition to receiving up to $120 million

over five years, other funding sources

could come from partners, government

and industry. JCESR’s commercial partners

will bring value through their knowledge

of R&D challenges to scale-up and

manufacturing, which will be folded into

the JCESR research plan. The partners’

investments in commercial facilities

for R&D and manufacturing are worth

upwards of $1 billion. JCESR will have

access to the knowledge, information and

manufacturing base its our commercial

partners. Also, in projects within JCESR

that include direct involvement by industry,

costs will be shared by that partner.

There will be opportunities for other

research partners, both commercial and

non-commercial, to join. New partners

will be added to address specific scientific

or technological goals for which new

expertise is needed. In addition to the

commercial partners, the five national labs

and five universities, JCESR has 35-plus

affiliates including other universities, private

research organisations and commercial

companies.


www.jcesr.org www.anl.gov Various videos about JCESR and cutting edge battery research: http://www.jcesr.org/?page_id=2009

JCESr PArTiCiPANTS

Argonne National Laboratory

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Sandia National Laboratories

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Northwestern University

University of Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Michigan

Clean Energy Trust

Dow Chemical

Applied Materials

Johnson Controls

A LOT Of ZINc AIREU project develops zinc-air batteries for the utility market

A European project is developing a

cheaper utility storage device using zinc-air

battery technology.

Zinc-air batteries, which provide electrical

power through the electrochemical

oxidation of zinc by oxygen are widely

available as disposable button cells used

to provide power for hearing aids. But for

utility and grid-scale storage zinc-air flow

batteries have the advantage of having

higher power and energy density than

vanadium redox flow devices, while being

relatively potentially cheap to manufacture

compared with various batteries.

Commercial efforts The need for cost-effective grid storage

bought about by increased use of

renewables such as solar and growing

electricity demand that cannot be met

by existing grid infrastructure is driving

efforts by companies around the world to

commercialise zinc-air flow batteries. US

firm Eos, for example, has developed a

zinc energy storage system for the electric

grid that can be sold for $160/kWh (about

€120/kWh) and is rechargeable over

10,000 cycles, equivalent to 30 years.

The company is scaling up battery

prototypes in 2013 in preparation for

manufacturing and delivery of MW-scale

systems to customers in 2014. Others

include Zinc Air Incorporated (ZAI), which

is commercialising technology developed

with Department of Energy (DoE) support

over 10 years.

Powair project In Europe, a group of companies and

research partners are developing a zinc-air

flow battery, under Seventh Framework

Programme (FP7) funding. The Powair

project, which began in November 2010

and will run until November 2014, is being

ON THE RADAR – ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY R&D 15


led by UK energy research company

C-Tech Innovation, which draws on over

40 years of experience in electrochemical

processes development, design and

building of industrial electrochemical

systems for industrial customers.

Other partners include CEST in

Austria, which has laboratories with

electrochemical equipment and has

carried out extensive work into metal

deposition and dissolution, Fuma-Tech in

Germany, which produces ion exchange

polymers and membranes for fuel cell

and other electrochemical applications,

as well as Green Power Technologies in

Spain, DNVKEMA and E.On Engineering.

University of Southampton and University

of Seville are the research partners.

The total project budget is €5.1 miilion,

which includes a grant from the EU of

€3.6 million.

John Collins, project manager at C-Tech

Innovations, says: ‘The Powair project

came about because we were looking for

a flow battery technology that would be

more cost-effective to manufacture in-line

with what electricity companies would

be willing to pay. So while their efficiency

may not quite match some other battery

technologies you are essentially playing off

lower cost against overall efficiency.’

The efficiency of the batteries developed

under Powair will be in the region of 5-10%

lower than a typical flow battery.

Goals Objectives of the project include

developing zinc-air batteries with four times

the energy density of existing flow batteries

and significantly reduced cost, plus

developing, designing a modular energy

system capable of plug and play expansion

via a novel modular distributed power

converter. Both Green Power Technologies

and the University of Seville have expertise

in power conversion.

Towards the end of the Powair project a

10 kW demonstrator will be developed

for evaluation that could precede a

commercial system with a target cost

of €100-150/kWh with an estimated

service life of around 10 years, though

the majority of the system should operate

for an additional 10 years or more,

following maintenance and servicing.

The demonstrator will be evaluated for

operation and grid compatibility on a

test grid by DNVKEMA, a global energy

consultancy and certification business with

extensive facilities for carrying out different

simulated test conditions for the batteries

and systems.

‘THE POwAIR PROjEcT cAmE AbOUT bEcAUSE wE wERE LOOkINg fOR A fLOw bATTERy TEcHNOLOgy THAT wOULD bE mORE cOST-EffEcTIVE TO mANUfAcTURE IN-LINE wITH wHAT ELEcTRIcITy cOmPANIES wOULD bE wILLINg TO PAy.’

While it is too early a stage in the project to

have a route to market finalised, the project

team is considering potential options as

the partners, between them, have the

know-how and facilities, via Fumatech, to

manufacture the air electrodes, which are

the battery’s key component.

‘Scaling timeframes are dependent on

module size you are aiming for. In the

5-10 kW module range, then we anticipate

that it could take another year on top

of a year of evaluating the prototype to

commercialise an improve version of

this.’ explains Collins. Batteries could be

commercialised from late 2016.

It is likely that initially the batteries will

be used in pilot projects and small

scale applications such as local grid

reinforcement. This year and next the

focus will turn to finding potential supply

chain partners, including providers of

production tools and equipment in order to

commercialise the battery technology.


www.powair.eu www.dnvkema.com www.cest.at www.ctechinnovation.com www.eon-uk.com www.fumatech.com www.greenpower.es http://www.us.es/ www.southampton.ac.uk/ www.eosenergystorage.com www.zincairinc.com

Zinc-air cell chemistry

- A solution or solid source of Zn(II)

is used as the energy storage

medium for the negative electrode

- Metallic zinc is plated and stripped

during charge and discharge

respectively at the negative

electrode

- The positive electrode is similar in

operation to that in a fuel cell or

water electrolyser

- Oxygen, either from a storage tank

or the atmosphere, is reduced

during discharge whilst during

charge oxygen is evolved

Source: Powair

ON THE RADAR – ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY R&D

Uk bETS ON ENERgy STORAgEin other recent initiatives set to boost energy storage r&D, the UK is investing £50 million (€57.9 million) in energy storage designs, feasibility studies and dedicated r&D and testing facilities

In January 2013 UK minister of state for

universities and science David Willetts

announced a funding boost for what

have been dubbed the ‘eight great

technologies’ which will propel the UK to

future growth.

In a speech at Policy Exchange, David

Willetts set out details of how the £600

million announced for science in the

Autumn Statement will support eight

fields, which include robotics and

autonomous systems, synthetic biology,

regenerative medicine, advanced

materials and energy.

The new investments, which total

over £460 million, include £30 million

to create dedicated R&D facilities to

develop and test new grid scale storage

technologies. This will help the UK

capitalise on its considerable excess

energy production, saving money and

reducing the national carbon footprint.

In a speech at the Policy Exchange the

minister described the unique strengths

of the UK’s research base, but said

government now needs to capitalise on

this by backing the right technologies

and helping to take them through to

market. This is an important element of

the UK’s industrial strategy and is part

of making the UK the best place in the

world to do science.

Willetts said: ‘Strong science and flexible

markets is a good combination of

policies. But it is not enough. It misses

out crucial stuff in the middle – real

decisions on backing key technologies

on their journey from the lab to the

marketplace. It is the missing third pillar

to any successful high tech strategy. It

is R&D and technology and engineering

as distinct from pure science. It is our

historic failure to back this which lies

behind the familiar problems of the

so-called “valley of death” between

scientific discoveries and commercial

applications.’

‘THE NEw INVESTmENTS, wHIcH TOTAL OVER £460 mILLION, INcLUDE £30 mILLION TO cREATE DEDIcATED R&D fAcILITIES TO DEVELOP AND TEST NEw gRID ScALE STORAgE TEcHNOLOgIES. THIS wILL HELP THE Uk cAPITALISE ON ITS cONSIDERAbLE ExcESS ENERgy PRODUcTION, SAVINg mONEy AND REDUcINg THE NATIONAL cARbON fOOTPRINT.’

Efficient energy storage technologies

could allow the UK to capitalise on its

considerable excess energy production.

While UK consumption peaks at 60 GW,

the UK has generation capacity of 80

GW but storage capacity of only 3 GW,

primarily from the single water system in

Wales. Greater energy storage capacity

can save money and reduce the national

carbon footprint at the same time.

The announcement by Willetts supports

ongoing initiatives in energy storage

R&D in the UK. In October 2012 two

energy storage competitions, totalling

£20 million, were announced by the

UK Department of Energy and Climate

Change (DECC). Of the £20 million,

£17 million has been made available

through an energy storage technology

demonstration competition. In the first

stage companies can secure up to

£40,000 for energy storage project

designs. In the competition’s second

phase successful projects can apply

for up to £12 million to test and

demonstrate energy storage designs.

The same companies can also apply

for the £3 million remaining of the

overall £20 million, as part of a separate

competition. The funding, available

in two rounds, is for energy storage

systems component research and

feasibility studies to investigate how

energy storage systems work and can

be used within the UK grid.

A report published by Imperial College

London the second half of 2012

suggests energy storage could generate

savings of up to £10 billion a year in

the UK, as part of DECC’s 2050 high

renewables scenario.

ON THE RADAR – ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY R&D 17


RENEwAbLE ENERgIES & ELEcTRIcITy STORAgE – TEcHNOLOgIES & mARkETS

mARkET ANALySIS

International Solar

RENEwAbLE ENERgy

HAS SEEN ExPLOSIVE

gROwTH AcROSS

EUROPE IN THE LAST DEcADE

AND THE TREND IS ExPEcTED

TO cONTINUE OVER THE

cOmINg yEARS AS EUROPE

mAkES A TRANSITION AwAy fROm

bEINg DEPENDENT

ON ImPORTED ENERgy.

19


mARkET ANALySIS

INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY STORAGE TEChNOLOGIES The scope of electricity storage is diverse ranging from electric through

electrochemical to mechanical storage for different applications. But regardless of

the technology all storage solutions have one thing in common – there is a need

to further develop technology and expand production in order to make them

economically viable. The study provides:

- Overview of storage solutions according to power costs and maturity stages

- Exposition of storage applications in renewable energies

ANALYSIS OF MARKET pOTENTIALS IN EUROpE The open market for PV storage solutions brings many opportunities which reveal

the strength of manufacturing companies in the PV industry. The report helps

better understand the potentials of this new market. The report includes:

- Exposition of framework conditions in national energy markets in Europe

- Scenario creation and model calculation for the market potential of PV

storage solutions

Executive summary of the reportRenewable energy has seen explosive growth across Europe in the last decade

and the trend is expected to continue over the coming years as Europe makes a

transition away from being dependent on imported energy.

Energy 2020, a strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy that

was adopted in 2010 by the European Commission, states a more competitive

strategy to reach the goals for 2020 adopted by the European Council in 2007

(specifically, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, to increase the share

of renewable energy to 20% and to make 20% improvement in energy efficiency).

Today, the EU is on track to achieve these targets by putting in place a series of

policies including the development of National Renewable Energy Action Plans

(NREAP).

the following article is based on the executive summary of a new report from consultancy eupd research in partnership with ipvea.

renewable energies and electricity storage – technologies and markets is a comprehensive survey of current developments in national energy markets in europe.

THE STUDy PROVIDES INSIgHTS ON VARIOUS ASPEcTS Of STORAgE EqUIREmENTS AND THE POTENTIAL AcROSS VARIOUS mARkET SEgmENTS.

mARkET ANALySIS

The growing share of renewables in the electricity generation mix, especially from

fluctuating energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics (PV), brings about

new challenges in electricity generation and demand dynamics. Due to such

developments, it is envisaged that the electricity market across the continent will

undergo a fundamental transition in the future. In order to facilitate this change,

storage solutions will be required.

The field of storage technologies is broad and fragmented. Energy storage

system applications are classified according to power, energy capacity, usage

time and other factors. Applications include MW-scale power storage for

frequency regulation, large capacity energy storage (MWh scale) for peak time

demand response, and commercial/residential energy storage with medium-small

capacities (kWh scale).

With the exponential growth of the PV markets globally during the last few years

Europe is now set to enter into another growth cycle. Henceforth, complete

solutions – including PV or other renewable energy sources combined with

storage and energy management technology – both at the grid and consumer

level will be required to achieve EU’s outlined 2020 goal and beyond.

In light of these future developments, the study provides insights on various

aspects of storage requirements and the potential across various market

segments. Furthermore, the study provides a technological overview, current

manufacturing landscape of storage battery solutions and key drivers which will

drive the storage battery market in the future.

TABLE OF CONTENTSintroduction1. renewable energy and the need for storage solutions

1.1 Development of renewable energy in Europe

1.2 National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP)

1.3 Challenges of the electricity generation and demand

1.4 Integration of renewable energy via storage solutions

2. Storage technologies

2.1 Technology overview

2.2 Market maturity and scope

3. Photovoltaics and storage

3.1 PV market development in Europe

3.2 Support framework

3.3 Storage market potential in Europe

3.4 Integration of storage battery solutions with photovoltaics

3.4.1 Economic feasibility

3.4.2 Market segments

3.4.3 Country Market-Segment-Technology attractiveness matrix

4. Manufacturers‘ landscape

5. Storage Battery Solutions – other applications

6. Conclusion

21


mARkET ANALySIS

Energy 2020Energy 2020 – a strategy for competitive,

sustainable and secure energy – was adopted on 10

November 2010 by the European Commission. The

communication states a more competitive strategy to

reach the goals for 2020 adopted by the European

Council in 2007 (specifically, to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions by 20%, to increase the share of renewable

energy to 20% and to make 20% improvement in

energy efficiency).

The strategy focuses on the following five priorities:

- Achieving an energy efficient Europe

- Building a truly pan-European integrated energy

market

- Empowering consumers and achieving the highest

level of safety and security

- Extending Europe‘s leadership in energy technology

and innovation

- Strengthening the external dimension of the EU

energy market

EU electricity market: an introductionSince 1997, the use of nuclear and coal fired power

plants have seen a decline as an overall percentage of

the electricity production mix. In 2008, nuclear and coal

fired power plants constituted 27.78% and 16.09%

respectively of the total electricity production.

On the other hand, renewable sources of energy have

witnessed growth over the last few years. In 2008, wind

constituted 3.52% of the total electricity production in

the EU-27 countries, compared with 0.26% in 1997.

Envisioned renewable energy electricity mix as per NrEAPAs per the NREAP published in 2010, Germany intends

to meet its electricity production targets substantially

through the addition of PV and wind capacities until

2020.

On the other hand Spain, France and the UK have

envisioned investments in wind capacity in order to fulfil

their electricity production goals for 2020.

mARkET ANALySIS

Background: renewable energy – Germany Over the last decade, the share of renewables in the

three sectors of energy consumption namely electricity,

heating and transport has increased significantly in

Germany.

In particular, the share of renewable energy in the

electricity sector has sharply increased from little over

5%+ in 2001 to over 20% in 2011.

According to German renewable energy law, known as

the EEG 2012, the German government plans to extend

the share of renewable energies to 35%.

By 2030 every second kWh electricity should be

generated by renewable energies. The fluctuating

renewable energies wind and PV showed a strong

growth path reaching 7.6% (wind) and 3.1% (PV) of

gross electricity generation in Germany 2011.

On a typical summer day in 2012 the installed PV

capacity in Germany generated a maximum of 16GWh.

To cover 10% of the daily generated PV electricity a net

storage capacity of nearly 13 GWh is needed. Charging

and discharging losses of 20% are expected. Storing

10% of total PV electricity will lead to a stabilised

electricity supply, even at night, of 1 GWh.

23


mARkET ANALySIS

Further information about renewable Energies and Electricity Storage – Technologies and Markets

rELEASE DATE Q1/ 2013

iNForMATioN SoUrCES

- In-depth analysis of in-house PV and storage databases

- Use of economic models

- Systematic desk research (media analysis, reports, industry portals)

BENEFiTS For yoUr CoMPANy

- Keep track of technologies and current developments in the market of electricity storage solutions

- Gain comprehensive understanding of changing energy markets in Europe

- Understand the need for the integration of renewable energies via storage solutions as well as the possibilities to enter the flourishing market of storage solutions in Europe

DELiVEry PDF version of the report (app. 60 pages)

PriCE

PPT-Report “Renewable Energies and Electricity Storage” Price

IPVEA Member 1,950 EURnon-IPVEA Member 2,950 EURPrinted copy(ies) 75 EUR per copy

Please note: Payment conditions: 100% on delivery

To orDEr Visit http://shop.eupd-research.com/ and click on the IPVEA report

Economic feasibility: storage battery plus PV systemIn the case of a retrofit system:

5 kWp PV system installed in January 2010 with a 5

kWh lithium ion storage system installed in 2012.

IRR level of up to 4.3% can be attained based on

outlined parameters compared to 14%+ without

storage system.

cOVER STORy

energy Bank

march/13 | issue 2 | ENERgystorageJOURNAL

25cOVER STORy

In the US, policy, changes to electricity market rules and government support have paved the way for demonstrations of large-scale energy storage for the utility market.

Energy storage has always been used in the

electricity network, such as providing backup

power for smaller grids, spinning reserves and

pumped hydro facilities are used all over the

world. But the growing use of intermittent,

sources of renewable energy generation,

coupled with advances in batteries in materials,

device design, production processes, and also

control electronics and software, have yielded

energy storage products able to accommodate

the needs of the electricity grid while managing

wind or solar farm’s fluctuating, sporadic energy

production.

Across the US utilities are working with systems

integrators to tentatively ease storage into

corners of the transmission and distribution

(T&D) network to assess potential applications,

benefits and see how these technologies behave

on the grid. These projects, many subsidised

by the Department of Energy (DoE) with funds

made available under the American Recovery

and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, add up

to over $80 million (€62 million) in investment,

mainly for demonstration of battery-based

energy storage and management systems.

In broad terms the benefits of storage integrated

into the T&D network are well publicised.

Energy storage supports further integration of

intermittent sources of wind and solar energy

into the grid, storing excess electricity in off-

peak periods, minimising peak electricity use

and providing savings for electricity consumers.

Energy storage can optimise and improve the

grid, reducing or delaying capital investment in

the network, benefiting taxpayers. Yet, despite

the announcements of storage projects, utilities

are reticent – somewhat understandably – when

it comes to discussing and viewing this new

asset at their disposal.

One US utility, however, which has publicised

its efforts to study and evaluate potential

applications for energy storage is Southern

California Edison (SCE). With government

grants to offset some of the cost of investing in

expensive, new technology, the utility is one of

the several preparing to test storage systems in

the field. The next three years will be a turning

point for the energy storage industry, which

requires the feedback of its end user market on

value propositions and technical needs.

Investor owned utility SCE started investigating

stationary storage over three years ago,

expanding upon its extensive research into

electric and hybrid vehicles and their potential

impact on the grid. The Tehachapi wind energy

storage project is one of several demonstration

projects in development in the US. ‘SCE

responded to the resulting Department of Energy

(DoE) solicitation in 2009. We saw that storage

was a potential solution to distributed generation

issues and challenges,’ says Mark Irwin director,

technology development at SCE.

The solicitation stipulated that the project size

had to be at least 8 MW, that the area for the

demonstration had to be heavy in renewables

generation and the battery technology must be

lithium-ion based. The Tehachapi mountains,

dotted with thousands of turbines, are rich in

wind resource but the electricity generated from

this site, over the decades, has presented SCE

with transmission system integration issues

Previous page.

The energy storage facility installed by Xtreme Power at Duke Energy’s Notrees wind farm in Texas

Source: Xtreme Power

cover story

ENERgy bANkby SARA VER-bRUggEN

‘bUT AT THE END Of THE

DAy ScE IS NOT jUST LOOkINg

fOR A bATTERy, IT IS LOOkINg

fOR A SySTEm THAT cAN bE INTEgRATED.’

and various operational constraints. The siting

of the project will also allow the utility to study

the impact of storage on a 66 kV portion of its

system in the area. Over 12 separate operational

issues will be studied by SCE in the project to

clearly show the functionality of energy storage

in the grid.

The benefits of grid-connected energy storage

are often espoused, especially in the context

of renewables, implying that the arrival of cost-

effective, advanced energy storage technology

will remove one of the biggest barriers to

widespread uptake of wind and solar. The

utility perspective on storage presents a more

nuanced picture. According to SCE energy

storage is a complex term which refers to varied

and disparate technologies and potential uses

across the electric grid. Storage may provide

the means to solve particular challenges but

is not an end in itself, identifying where and

how storage is used on the electric system

(applications) is a logical and ideal starting point

for discussions about storage, but storage as a

unified concept is impractical and misleading.

DEMONSTRATION pROJECTS Irwin states: ‘Tehachapi is designed to resolve

a type of problem. We decided upon the likely

applications for demonstrating storage devices,

but these are not at the stage where the device

is reliably proven to resolve an issue, as this is

not yet a proven solution.’

By late 2013, or early 2014, SCE and its

partners aim to have the Tehachapi system

installed and up and running. As A123, the

original battery company that SCE had been

working with, is now insolvent a new provider of

lithium batteries is being sought.

The demonstration project will run for 24

months. ‘As it progresses over time we will

have to make a recommendation about how

The interior of a 36 MW energy storage and management system supplied by Xtreme Power for Duke Energy’s Notrees wind farm in Texas


cover story 27


to continue once the demonstration has been

completed. A question will be the cost-benefit,’

says Irwin.

At the Smart Grid Observer online conference in

November 2012 Irwin talked of the critical value

of storage for SCE, not so much about shifting

energy from off-peak to the on-peak but as a

means of deferring or avoiding capital on the

distribution portion of the grid. As an example

this could be avoiding upgrading a distribution

system from 4 kV to 12 kV. ‘We may have an

overload that we have to solve. This could mean

putting a storage device in for smoothing and

reducing that overload.’

In addition to the demonstrations SCE is also

planning a pilot project, which it is finalising. This

will be operational in 2014 and it will be 500 kW

to 1 MW in size with 2-4 hours of storage. ‘The

storage solution will be designed to address

an issue. There are other solutions that exist to

address the issue and using storage may not be

the most economic option,’ says Irwin. However

the pilot is important because it could lead to a

further scale-up of storage capacity by SCE in

future.

SCE has done its homework. Irwin admires

the approach to storage by Jeju island, off the

coast of South Korea. ‘It is a test-bed of different

demonstration and pilot projects and investment

is being made in the proving process that these

device technologies require.’ The island’s semi-

autonomous government has initiated renewable

energy pilots, including offshore wind and pilots

for storage.

Discussions about storage rarely occur without

discussions about cost. In the meantime, in

these next few years as energy storage prices

come down, more cost-benefit analysis emerges

and demand for grid storage becomes more

acute, SCE is making sure it is in a place to fully

appreciate performance of energy storage in

various applications to be able to deploy it when

required.

BATTERIES AND ENERGY STORAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS When investigating battery technology SCE will

typically take the approach of looking at test

results on paper and talk to the industry. It will

then carry out its own lab tests of device and

gain third party, independent results, followed by

demonstration projects, then pilots. ‘But at the

end of the day the company is not just looking

for a battery, it is looking for a system that can

be integrated,’ says Irwin.

Audrey Fogarty, VP of commercial operations

and application development at Xtreme

Power, concurs: ‘The battery is just one part

of the system. Xtreme Power can be seen

as essentially a systems integrator – we take

the battery and integrate it with our storage

management technology and systems. We

have exclusive agreements with a lot of large

battery producers and will use batteries that are

most suitable and reliable for each application.

However, we evaluate batteries by putting them

through a lot of tests before we use them.’

Xtreme Power is able to configure ratings for

power (MW), which refers to the amount of

electricity a storage system can absorb or

supply at any given instant, and energy storage

(MWh), which is the total storage capacity of a

system, or the length of time a storage device

can provide a set amount of power, to ensure

individual projects are fully optimised.

FREqUENCY REGULATION The company’s largest project to date is with

Duke Energy, providing storage for the utility’s

153 MW Notrees wind power project, in Texas.

The integrated facility at Notrees provides flexible

‘wE mAy HAVE AN OVERLOAD THAT wE HAVE TO SOLVE. THIS cOULD mEAN PUTTINg A STORAgE DEVIcE IN fOR SmOOTHINg AND

REDUcINg THAT OVERLOAD.’

Inside the energy storage facility at Notrees wind

farm in Texas


cover story

capacity for the Electric Reliability Council of

Texas (ERCOT), which operates the state’s

electrical grid and manages the majority of the

deregulated market in Texas. The 36 MW energy

storage system, which uses advanced lead acid

batteries, is able to deploy fast-acting reserves

to support ERCOT grid reliability and helps

maintain supply and demand balance with near-

instantaneous feedback of frequency changes or

other unexpected events.

‘We expect to see continued growth in

renewables integration and frequency regulation

driving demand for energy storage in the near

term, such as our project with Invenergy,’ says

Fogarty.

Invenergy is a Chicago-based renewable energy

developer. Xtreme Power has installed its 1.5

MW Regulation Power Management (RPM)

system close to Invenergy’s Grand Ridge Wind

project site in La Salle County. The wind farm will

supply renewable power to the new frequency

response market administered by regional

transmission group PJM.

The emergent frequency response market has

been facilitated by a ‘Pay for Performance’ rule

introduced by the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (FERC) in late 2012. Regional

transmission organisations (RTOs) and

independent system operators (ISOs) have to

pay for an ancillary service known as frequency

regulation. Typically compensation is based

on how much capacity generators set aside

for such a service. The Pay for Performance

rule means generators are rewarded for faster

ramping rates, total energy provided – or

mileage – and greater accuracy, which faster-

ramping resources are able to achieve in

responding rapidly to dispatch signals from

system operators. It is advanced storage

technologies, including battery and flywheel

based systems, which are able to achieve

these and, in the process, help to facilitate

further uptake of intermittent renewables like

wind and solar and better balance supply and

demand. Xtreme Power’s RPM system, which

uses lithium-titanate battery technology, is able

to provide a responses time in the frequency

regulation market up to 50 times faster than

conventional generation resources.

Xtreme Power, which has provided storage

systems in Hawaii and Alaska, is also poised

for the island grid applications as opportunities

open up in places such as the Caribbean islands

and Puerto Rico. Hawaii has installed wind

farms and solar farms so it can be less reliant

on importing energy, and storage is a critical

component as the grid infrastructure cannot

handle high amounts of renewables and also

reduces reliance on diesel backup generation.

FLExIBLE TEChNOLOGY The Modesto Irrigation Distribution project

represents another large-scale energy storage

project on the grid, supported with DoE funding.

Located in California’s Central Valley, Modesto

Irrigation District is a municipal utility, a not-

for-profit organisation represented by a locally

elected board, which manages the area’s water

and electricity supply.

The storage system, supplied by Primus Power,

will provide the district with the ability to shift

on-peak energy use to off-peak periods. The

company was set up in California about three

and half years ago to develop a low-cost battery,

based on safe and proven zinc-flow battery

technology. Primus Power’s battery does not

use a separator and the battery design has

been simplified. Primus has worked closely

with Bosch to develop battery management

electronics.

Primus Power has a prototyping facility in

California but is looking to work with a contract

manufacturer that will produce the batteries on

its behalf, starting later this year. Primus is also

working on several other projects. One of these

is a contract with Raytheon’s Integrated Defense

THE PAy fOR PERfORmANcE RULE mEANS gENERATORS ARE REwARDED fOR fASTER RAmPINg RATES, TOTAL ENERgy PROVIDED – OR mILEAgE – AND gREATER AccURAcy, wHIcH fASTER-RAmPINg RESOURcES ARE

AbLE TO AcHIEVE IN RESPONDINg RAPIDLy TO DISPATcH SIgNALS fROm ISOS.

cover story 29


Systems business to deliver and support an

electrical energy storage system for a microgrid

at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar,

California.

Modesto gets its energy from several sources,

including fossil fuel plants, hydropower and

renewables. The utility imports about half of

its energy requirements, including electricity

produced by a wind farm in the neighbouring

state of Oregon, but it has to pay a premium

to receive firmed wind electricity. Rather than

pay this premium energy storage could enable

Modesto to store the wind generated energy. In

mid-2012 the municipal increased its renewable

energy generation with the completion of a 25

MW solar farm. The renewable sources are

integrated with thermal generators because they

are intermittent, to ensure the district’s electricity

needs are met.

The storage system Primus Power is supplying

for the project is 25 MW/75 MWh and will

replace a planned $78 million 50 MW fossil

fuel thermal generation plant, for less. Storage

provides value more immediately, whereas

thermal generation plants require capital

spending four years before they come online,

the average time it takes for installation and

commissioning.

Modesto will use the energy storage system to

balance renewable energy, reduce load peaks

and balance frequency. In addition to providing

utilities with immediate value, Modesto can

also use the storage to defer upgrades of

substations. ‘These upgrades cannot be put

off indefinitely, more like two years, and this

provides the utility with the ability to plan ahead

and reduce upfront capital costs,’ explains Tom

Stepien, CEO of Primus Power.

It is estimated that Modesto will save 30%

by using Primus Power’s EnergyPod storage

technology instead of thermal generators.

Primus Power will deliver its EnergyPod

storage system starting 2014. Each one is 250

kW/1 MWh. Eight of them can be held in one

container.

Electricity grids are built to accommodate

thermal generation plants fuelled by fossil or

nuclear fuel to provide a steady, predictable

supply of energy. To compensate for the erratic

levels and patterns of energy generation by

wind and solar utilities end up building more gas

turbines. Advanced energy storage technologies

that companies such as Primus and Xtreme

are supplying eliminate this variability issue. But

there are also a host of other applications for

energy storage that are just beginning to be

demonstrated and evaluated.

In the long term energy storage systems;

technologies that are equipped to store, absorb

and release electricity in an intelligent manner

are potentially disruptive enough to change how

utilities manage the distribution of electricity.

In the meantime utilities are making a start on

putting energy storage through its paces on

the grid. ‘The timeframe of our involvement,

including all of these various stages of lab tests,

demonstrations and pilots is consistent with

the timeframe in which the network will require

reinforcing,’ says Irwin.

‘THESE UPgRADES

cANNOT bE PUT Off INDEfINITELy,

mORE LIkE TwO yEARS, AND THIS

PROVIDES THE UTILITy wITH

THE AbILITy TO PLAN AHEAD AND REDUcE UPfRONT

cAPITAL cOSTS.’

LINKS FOR FURThER RESEARCh www.sce.com

www.xtremepower.com

www.primuspower.com

www.duke-energy.com

The exterior of a 36 MW energy storage and

management system supplied by Xtreme

Power for Duke Energy’s Notrees wind farm in

Texas


cover story

US utility-led energy storage projects

NoTrEES WiND ENErGy STorAGE ProJECTLocation Texas Rated power 36 MW Duration at rated power 15 minutesApplication/benefit Renewables capacity firming, electric energy time shift frequency regulationISO/RTO ERCOTUtility Duke Energy Grid interconnection TransmissionPaired grid resource WindEnergy storage technology provider Xtreme PowerBattery technology Advanced lead acidPower electronics provider Xtreme PowerIntegrator Xtreme Power SystemsCAPEX $43.6 millionDoE subsidy $21.8 million Operational End of 2012

PriMUS PoWEr MoDESTo WiND FirMiNG ENErGyFArMLocation Modesto, CaliforniaRated power 25 MW Duration at rated power 3 hoursApplication/benefit Renewables capacity firming, electric supply capacityUtility Modesto Irrigation District Grid interconnection TransmissionPaired grid resource GridEnergy storage technology provider Primus PowerBattery technology zinc chlorine redox flowDoE subsidy $14 millionOperational 2014

TEHACHAPi ENErGy STorAGE ProJECTLocation Tehachapi, California Rated power 8 MW Duration at rated power 4 hoursApplication/benefit Voltage support, electric supply capacity, renewables capacity firming ISO/RTO CAISOUtility Southern California EdisonGrid interconnection TransmissionPaired grid resource WindEnergy storage technology provider Not known (was A123)Battery technology Lithium ionPower electronics provider DynaPowerIntegrator Not known (was A123)CAPEX $5.4 millionOperational 2014

PGE SALEM SMArT PoWEr CENTrE (PACiFiC NorTHWEST SMArT GriD DEMoNSTrATioN)Location Salem, OregonRated power 5 MWDuration at rate power 15 minutes Application/benefit Electric supply capacity, electric energy time shift, renewables capacity firming, renewables energy time shift Utility Portland General Electric (PGE)Energy storage technology provider EnerDelBattery technology Lithium ionPower electronics provider Eaton CorporationIntegrator Enerdel, PGE, GECAPEX $22.2 millionDoE subsidy $10.3 millionOperational 2012

Full details of these and other projects can be found at www.energystorageexchange.org

cover story 31


SEcOND LIfEConservation of resources, along with energy, is becoming

more important than ever, so the idea of taking used high

performance batteries originally designed for electric cars to

meet demand for lower intensity stationary storage is gaining

credence. But how easy is it to establish in practice?

fEATURE

Efficiency House Plus Source: BMVBS

© Werner Sobek,StuttgartWernerSobek.com

33

March/13 | Issue 2 | ENERGYsTOraGeJOURNAL

fEATURE

by SARA VER-bRUggEN

What do car makers Nissan, GM and Mitsubishi

have in common? All have their own respective

partnerships with OEMs to develop secondary

use applications for batteries originally designed

for, and used in, automotive applications. Electric

vehicle (EV) batteries have up to 70% capacity

remaining after 10 years of use in an EV, a

longevity that allows them to be used beyond

the lifetime of the vehicle for some stationary

storage applications.

In its report Repurposing Electric Vehicle

Batteries for Stationary Storage IDC Energy

Insights forecasts that by 2020 there will be

some 400 MW-hours-worth of batteries ready

to start coming out of cars and the number

will continue to rise. Of course, many of these

will be destined for recycling as they will be

too degraded, others will be reconditioned for

continued use in cars. The majority, however,

will be too degraded for their original application

but have sufficient capacity for energy storage

applications.

DRIVERS AND AppLICATIONS According to global consultancy and engineering

services provider P3, the drivers of secondary

application batteries are reduced ownership

costs for automotive buyers due to the increased

resale value of batteries and lower battery

prices for secondary applications. In addition

a secondary market for EV batteries helps to

conserve critical and expensive raw materials,

such as lithium, without going through intensive

recycling processes.

The current generation of secondary

application batteries will fulfil requirements for

most stationary applications, though mobile

applications are more demanding. However,

though several potential applications exist

for secondary use price potential needs to

be balanced with the cost and feasibility of

modification.

P3 lists uninterruptible power supply, for example

for hospitals, cell phone towers and data

processing centres, as a potential applications

where batteries could be reused to provide a

cleaner solution compared with diesel generation

with low maintenance costs. For larger scale

applications such as integration of intermittent

renewables into the grid, peak shifting/load

balance – community energy storage – use of

batteries is still very limited and expensive. An

option could be secondary batteries to enhance

reliability of renewable sources, mitigate need

for additional power generation and provide high

charge/discharge rates more cost-effectively.

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY GM has signed a memorandum of understanding

(MOU) with ABB for joint study and research

into a community-level grid-connected energy

storage unit able to provide power for up to

50 homes, reusing batteries. The research

partnership encompasses inverters and controls

software and a grid integration study will be

carried out with three utilities. Recently the two

companies demonstrated a Chevrolet Volt battery

reuse. The system is based on the repackaging

of five used Chevrolet Volt batteries into a

modular 25 kW, 50 kWh unit capable of providing

two hours of electricity for 3-5 homes. Duke

Energy plans to test the prototype on its grid.

In Japan Nissan and Sumitomo have had a

joint venture, 4R Energy, since 2010 to conduct

research and field tests on the second-life use

of lithium-ion batteries that have been used

previously in electric vehicles (EV). Earlier this

year 4R Energy partnered with ABB and the US

IDc ENERgy INSIgHTS

fOREcASTS THAT by 2020

THERE wILL bE SOmE 400 mw-HOURS-

wORTH Of bATTERIES READy TO

START cOmINg OUT Of cARS

AND THE NUmbER wILL cONTINUE TO

RISE.

Transportation batteries being

reused in a stationary storage

application

Source: Indy Power Systems

fEATURE

divisions of its parent companies to evaluate the

reuse of lithium-ion battery packs that power the

all-electric Nissan LEAF. Applications targeted

are residential and commercial stationary energy

storage systems. The companies are developing

a LEAF battery storage prototype with a capacity

of at least 50 kWh, enough to supply 15 average

homes with electricity for two hours.

Earlier this year, US start-up Indy Power

Systems, based in Indianapolis, installed a

50kW, 15kWh energy storage system to reduce

peaks in utility grid demand for its customer

Melink Corporation, a supplier of heating

ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) products

and service. What makes the system unique

is that it uses and optimises various types of

batteries for grid storage, including five different

lead-acid battery packs, all comprised of used

batteries that would otherwise have been

destined for crushing. To do this Indy Power

Systems has developed a screening process

that can sort out batteries with at least 75% of

their original energy rating at approximately 33%

of the cost of new batteries. The tool consists of

a router and controller designed to manage the

flow of energy between any number of sources

and loads, in either direction, regardless of

voltage.

Indy Power Systems founder Steve Tolen

explains: ‘There is no one perfect battery, each

technology compromises on performance

somewhere, they tend to wear out. We can

optimise batteries to work in concert with

others.’ He cites the batteries used in truck fleets

where, as part of preventative maintenance,

batteries will be rotated for new ones even when

they contain 75% of original capacity.

The system that Indy has supplied to Melink

operates on a daily basis providing electrical

energy to the grid when Melink’s heat pumps

kick in and energy use peaks. This effectively

lowers utility grid usage by approximately 15 kW

for an hour each business day and means the

company does not get stung by high demand

peak charges. The system recharges either

during the day when solar energy production

exceeds energy usage, or at night when energy

use is low. The system allows for more storage

to be added as desired.

what makes the system unique is that it uses and optimises various

types of Batteries for grid storage, including five different lead-acid

Battery packs, all comprised of used Batteries that would otherwise

have Been destined for crushing.

‘we are getting smarter and smarter

aBout how we are deploying the

Battery in its primary application, which

helps to estaBlish its predictaBility for the

secondary application.’

35


fEATURE

The application with Melink may be small but

Indy Power Systems is targeting transportation,

grid integration of renewables and military

microgrids with its system. In a typical grid

storage application, lots of batteries are sorted,

with the ones that do not meet requirements

returned to the recycling stream, while the sorted

batteries are group by capacity and placed into

packs of ‘like’ capacity. Each pack is controlled

individually with different voltages and different

charge and discharge rates, to make a modular

and scalable system. Indy Power Systems,

which was set up in 2007, has begun working

with utilities and aims to have some projects

starting in 2013. In the next 2-3 years Tolen

expects to roll the technology out to domestic

users as well as small commercial users also.

He sees a big future in energy storage not

only for refurbished or reconditioned batteries,

but also technologies that can get more out

of batteries, which have reached the limits of

their original application but are by no means

redundant.

The 50 kWh unit designed to demonstrate

Chevrolet Volt battery reuse is just the tip of

the iceberg in terms of GM’s exploration of

secondary battery applications. The company

has been researching the field for about two

years. ‘We are looking at very small scale to

very large applications with various partners,’

explains Pablo Valencia, GM senior manager

of battery lifecycle management. The project

with ABB and Duke Energy is just one. One

potential commercial application that GM is very

interested in is the repackaging of EV batteries

for fast-charging ports, where electrified cars

can be recharged in several minutes, instead

of hours. But these require a lot of power and

locating them in dense urban areas in cities,

where they are most needed, would stress the

grid. Using stationary storage is seen as a viable

solution. ‘It’s a very compelling application, and

it is not too far off from being developed,’ says

Valencia.

He agrees the big challenge is tackling the

logistics of establishing the secondary battery

market. GM is able to assess the capability of

EV batteries, which is critical when it comes to

establishing their secondary application and

share results with partners such as ABB.

‘We are getting smarter and smarter about

how we are deploying the battery in its primary

application, which helps to establish its

predictability for the secondary application,’

says Valencia.

SUppLY ChAIN In the coming years, particularly as the

electric and hybrid vehicle market grows

there will be a substantial market of used

batteries for a secondary use market with

adequate performance for various potential

applications. The challenge is establishing the

supply chains that can take redundant high

performance batteries from the automotive and

transportation markets and extract maximum

value for secondary market applications,

from collection, testing and qualification, to

modification, refurbishment and reselling of

batteries, according to P3. In addition to large

global industrial firms such as Siemens and

ABB, other specialist companies are well

placed to help establish a second life battery

market. One of these is ATC Drivetrain, an

independent drivetrain remanufacturer in the

US. The company provides leading automotive

OEMs, including Honda, with remanufacturing

and logistics products and services based

on salvaging core components, refurbishing,

reconditioning and repairs.

Through its division ATC New Technologies

the company partners with OEMs to support

warranty and aftermarkets for battery packs –

including li-ion and nickel metal hydride (NiHM)

battery packs for pure electric and hybrid

vehicles, inverters and electric motors. The

LINKS FOR FURThER RESEARCh www.melinkcorp.com

www.indypowersystems.com

www.p3-group.com

www.sae.org

www.abb.com

www.4r-energy.com

www.atcdrivetrain.com

German Federal Ministry of Transport,

Building and Urban Development

www.bmvbs.de

Link to the Efficiency House Plus project

www.bmvbs.de/SharedDocs/EN/

Artikel/B/energy-plus-house-my-house-

my-filling-station.html

www.WernerSobek.com

fEATURE

company has identified a market opportunity

for batteries for second life applications,

where capacity does not have to be as high

as for the aftermarket, but is still acceptable.

ATC Drivetrain is looking to use its existing

experience that includes refurbishing and

repairing battery systems and modules, as well

as cell grading analysis and balancing of cells

for remanufacturing, to develop products. The

company has in test production a product called

the Watt Box, which is a self-contained storage

system designed for use with NiHM or li-ion

batteries up to 50 kWh for peak shaving/load

shifting applications.

In Germany, a project called Efficiency House

Plus is investigating the potential for lithium-

ion battery modules, which have been used in

EVs, for a second-life application as affordable

stationary energy storage as part of domestic

solar panel systems. The project, which started

in 2011, is funded by the German Federal

Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban

Development. In the project a stationary storage

pack consisting of seventy 8V modules with 8V

each, with a battery management system to

monitor and control the battery cells, is being

operated and monitored for two years to collect

data about the performance of the system in

various operational and seasonal conditions. The

system has a nominal storage capacity of 43

KWh and a maximum power output of 7.2 KW.

FUTURE It is going to take a few years for significant

amounts of redundant EV batteries to come

out of service and into the hands of companies

dedicated to producing energy management

and storage systems that exploit repurposed

devices. According to P3, the global EV/ hybrid

EV original battery market will rise from 6.4

million kWh in 2012 to 19.5 million kWh in 2017,

worth about $15 billion by 2017. However, the

secondary use market lags this primary market

by approximately 7-10 years.

But a market based on different battery grades

and capacities could find ample buyers and

sellers in future. Power storage assets are not

cheap to make and a more cost-effective and

resource-conservative approach that repurposes

and refurbishes batteries for second life

applications could have an important role to play

in establishing sufficient storage capacity in the

years to come, as well as provide new business

opportunities for companies.

Projected global volumes of oEM electrified vehicles (primary batteries)Annual volume (MWHr) Source: P3

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KEYNOTES:

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EVENT PREVIEw

talking from experiencepv industry production equipment companies show how to drive down production costs in battery manufacturing at the energy storage production technology forum.

Leading innovators and suppliers of PV production equipment are providing cutting-edge solutions for battery manufacturing for the

energy storage industry. Manz and Jonas & Redmann will be taking part in a panel discussion – How to get Costs Down, How to speed

up manufacturing, Critical Issues and Best Practices – at the Energy Storage Production Technology Forum workshop at this year’s

ENERGY STORAGE – International Summit for the Storage of Renewable Energies, taking place in Düsseldorf on 18 March 2013.

In the inaugural issue of Energy Storage Journal Manz and Jonas & Redmann, along with other suppliers of PV production tools and

systems, discussed their involvement in the emerging stationary energy storage sector.

The full programme for the Energy Storage Production Technology Forum is designed to provide the current state of energy storage

manufacturing technologies and enable attendees to gain firsthand knowledge from current users, recognised experts and industry

pioneers.

energy storage production technology forum programme:1:20 pm Arrival of participants and joint

networking lunch

2:50 pm SESSioN i

Introduction and Market Overview by Markus A. W. Höhner CEO, EUPD Research

2:55 pm Current Status / Market Overview

Markus A. W. Hoehner CEO, EUPD Research

3:10 pm Current Status / Overview of Technology / Research

Dr. Andreas Würsig Head of Integrated Power Systems, Fraunhofer ISIT

3:30 pm Partnering – A Viable Battery Production Technology Option

Golo Wahl Director Business Development, Flextronics Energy

3:45 pm Quality Control / Measurement Technology

Andreas Krispin Sales Manager, IN CORE Systèmes

4:00 pm Cost Analysis / Markets / Analyst Research

Dr. Franz J. Kruger Senior Advisor, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH

4:15 pm Q & A / Discussion

4:30 pm Coffee Break

5:00 pm SESSioN 2

Discussion Panel- How to get Costs Down, How to speed up manufacturing, Critical Issues and Best Practices

Participants:Marco Stehr Sales Director Li-ion Batteries, Manz Tübingen GmbH *

Lutz Redmann Founder and CEO of Jonas & Redmann Group GmbH *

Dr. Werner Schreiber Managing Director Volkswagen Varta Microbattery Forschungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG

Dr. Gerold Neumann CTO, Dispatch Energy

Dr. Norbert Schall Vice President Research & Development Battery Materials, Süd-Chemie AG a Clariant Group Company

Dr. Franz J. Kruger Senior Advisor, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH

Dr. Andreas Würsig Head of Integrated Power Systems, Fraunhofer ISIT

6:25 pm Closing Remarks

6:30 pm End of the Production Technology Forum

Shuttle bus transfer to networking dinner

The entrance for the workshop and the dinner is included to all registered conference badge holders. The forum, with lunch and evening dinner, can be booked for €395 or €350, for members of association partners, including IPVEA.

The Energy Storage Production Technology Forum Committee includes:

� Dr. Binder, BTC Technologies

� Mr. Bryan Ekus, MD of IPVEA

� Dr. Jens Tübke, Fraunhofer ICT and Chairman of the Fraunhofer Battery Alliance

� Dr. Vetter, Fraunhofer ISE

* member

bREAkINgIT DOwN exploring the various applications for large-capacity electrical energy storage (ees) to support renewable energy integration


39fEATURE

fEATURE

Energy storage, due to its tremendous range of uses

and configurations, may assist renewable energy

(RE) integration in any number of ways. These uses

include, inter alia, matching generation to loads

through time-shifting; balancing the grid through

ancillary services, load-following, and load-levelling;

managing uncertainty in RE generation through

reserves; and smoothing output from individual RE

plants.

Promising large-capacity electrical energy storage (EES) technologies

The universe of energy storage applications maps

closely to the challenges of integrating RE into the

grid. In the same way that RE integration creates

needs at a variety of temporal scales, different types

of energy storage are suited to different discharge

times, from seconds to seasons.

The suitability of an energy storage resource for a

particular discharge timeframe is determined by its

power density and energy density. Power density

refers to the energy storage technology’s ability to

provide instantaneous power. A higher power density

indicates that the technology can discharge large

amounts of power on demand.

Energy density refers to the ability of the technology

to provide continuous energy over a period of time.

A high energy density indicates that the technology

can discharge energy for long periods. Generally,

energy storage technologies with the highest power

densities tend to have the lower energy densities;

they can discharge enormous amounts of power,

but only for a short time. Likewise, technologies

with the highest energy densities tend to have lower

power densities; they can discharge energy for a long

time, but cannot provide massive amounts of power

immediately. This quality gives rise to a division of

energy storage technologies into categories based on

discharge times. While the categories are general and

nearly always admit of exceptions, they are useful in

conceptualising how many roles storage can play with

respect to renewables integration.

Short discharge time resources discharge for

seconds or minutes, and have an energy-to-power

ratio (kWh/kW) of less than 1. Examples include

double layer capacitors (DLCs), superconducting

magnetic energy storage (SMES), and flywheels

(FES). These resources can provide instantaneous

frequency regulation services to the grid that mitigate

the impact of RE’s uncontrollable variability.

Medium discharge time resources discharge for

minutes to hours, and have an energy-to-power ratio

of between 1 and 10. This category is dominated by

batteries, namely lead acid (LA), lithium ion (Li-ion),

and sodium sulphur (NaS), though flywheels may also

be used. Medium discharge time resources are useful

for power quality and reliability, power balancing and

load-following, reserves, consumer-side time-shifting,

and generation-side output smoothing. Moreover,

specific batteries may be designed so as to optimize

for power density or energy density. As such, they

are relevant to both the uncontrollable variability and

partial unpredictability that RE generation brings to

the grid.

Medium-to-long discharge time resources

discharge for hours to days, and have energy-to-

power ratios of between 5 and 30. They include

pumped hydro storage (PHS), compressed air

energy storage (CAES), and redox flow batteries

(RFBs). RFBs are particularly flexible in their design,

as designers may independently scale the battery’s

power density and energy density by adjusting the

size of the cell stacks or the volume of electrolytes,

respectively. Technologies in this category are useful

primarily for load-following and time-shifting, and can

assist RE integration by hedging against weather

uncertainties and solving diurnal mismatch of wind

generation and peak loads.

Long discharge time resources may discharge for

days to months, and have energy-to-power ratios

of over 10. They include hydrogen and synthetic

natural gas (SNG). Technologies in this category are

thought to be useful for seasonal time-shifting, and

due to their expense and inefficiency will likely see

deployment only when RE penetrations are very

large. For example, large amounts of solar power on

the grid will produce large amounts of energy in the

summer months, but significantly less in the winter.

Storing excess generation in the summer as hydrogen

or SNG and converting it back to electricity in the

winter would allow a time-shift of generation from

one season to the next. Such technologies can assist

RE integration in the long term by deferring the need

for transmission expansion and interconnection that

arises due to the locational dependency of renewable

resources.

The suitability of an energy storage resource for a particular discharge timeframe is determined by its power density and energy density.

41


fEATURE

roles of electrical energy storage (EES) in renewable energy integration Grid-side roles of EES The widest range of uses for EES lies in services to

the grid operator in providing generation flexibility.

These services also represent – from the grid

operator’s perspective – the optimal use of storage

as a tool to mitigate variability and uncertainty for an

entire grid, rather than for specific loads or generation

assets. The optimality arises from the fact that

integration of large amounts of wind and solar energy

over large geographic areas results in lower net

variability and output uncertainty than the integration

of a single RE plant, and so the need for services

overall is reduced.

Nevertheless, it is simplistic to expect that this will be

the only use of energy storage for RE integration that

emerges in future grids. Indeed, the grid operator’s is

not the only perspective that is important or relevant.

Individual RE generators or plants facing specific

incentive policies or isolated grids may find it in their

best interests to co-locate generation and storage to

level output prior to grid integration. On the demand

side, expanded use of electric vehicles (EV) may

provide substantial aggregate energy storage to the

grid even if the storage resource itself appears sub-

optimal to the grid operator.

We avoid making any specific judgments or

predictions about exactly what the distribution of uses

will or ought to be for EES in assisting RE integration,

and instead simply present all of the potential uses

from a variety of perspectives. The actual use of EES

in various countries in the future will vary significantly

depending on government policies, utility strategies,

social and cultural factors, and the peculiarities of

each particular grid.

Generation-side roles of EES Operators of RE generation plants may use energy

storage technologies to assist in the integration of a

particular plant, or of several plants that feed into the

same substation. EES used in this fashion serves to

improve the grid-friendliness of RE generation itself.

It is important to understand that generation-side use

of energy storage is not simply a shift in ownership

of the storage resource, but an entirely different role

Grid-side EES case study: The national wind power, solar power, energy storage and transmission demonstration project in Zhangbei, China

The national wind power, solar power, energy

storage and transmission demonstration project,

co-sponsored by the Ministry of Finance,

the Ministry of Science and Technology, the

National Energy Bureau and SGCC, is located

in North Zhangjiakou. The wind and solar

resources are rich, but the local load is small

and the installation is far away from the Beijing-

Tianjin-Tangshan load centre so the energy

must be transmitted to the load centre by a

high-voltage and long-distance transmission

network. This project exemplifies the basic

characteristics of RE development in China, and

is a typical project for studying the problem of

accommodating large-scale renewable power.

The planned capacity of the project is 500 MW

wind power, 100 MW PV power and 110 MW

energy storage. Phase I of the project, which

was completed in 2011, consists of 100 MW

wind power, 40 MW PV power and 20 MW

energy storage. In order to test the performance

of different types of battery storage, three types

of battery storage are used in the 20 MW energy

storage station: 14 MW of lithium iron phosphate

(LiFePO4, LFP) batteries, 4 MW of NaS batteries

and 2 MW of vanadium redox flow batteries

(VRFBs).

Through a panoramic intelligent optimal control

system, panoramic monitoring, intelligent

optimisation, comprehensive control and smooth

mode-switching between wind, solar and

storage, the project has met targets of output

smoothing, schedule following, load levelling

and frequency regulation. The storage system

has contributed to making the wind farm and PV

station more grid-friendly.Individual RE generators or plants facing specific incentive policies or isolated grids may find it in their best interests to co-locate generation and storage to level output prior to grid integration.

fEATURE

for storage from that envisioned by grid-side use of

EES. Rather than using EES as a tool to balance an

entire power grid, an RE generation plant may use

EES to provide integration applications prior to grid

integration, either at the plant or substation level.

While the technical requirements of generation-side

EES applications are similar to those of grid-side EES,

greater flexibility is required of generation side EES

facilities, because a single RE plant exhibits greater

variability and uncertainty than many RE plants

aggregated on the same grid.

This means that dedicating EES facilities to specific

RE generation results in proportionately higher

costs than using EES to balance net variability

and uncertainty on the grid. For isolated and

geographically-constrained grids, however, co-

location of RE generation and EES may be an

attractive option, as balancing such grids through

interregional trading, conventional backup capacity or

demand-side management is more challenging than

for larger and more interconnected grids.

Essentially, generation-side use of EES aims to

transform an uncontrollably variable and partially

unpredictable resource into a controlled and

predictable one – it turns RE generation into

something that looks very much like conventional

energy generation. Such an RE generation resource

is said to be dispatchable. It may also play a role

in effectively utilising limited transmission capacity,

particularly where the RE generation is located on an

isolated or weak grid. Generation-side uses of EES

include:

Time shifting: The dedicated energy storage facility

stores energy whenever its generator produces it,

and stands ready to dispatch energy to the grid when

needed. This can make RE output both predictable

to grid operators and co-temporal to demand. Time

shifting functions require EES facilities to store large

quantities of energy for significant periods of time,

from hours to days. NaS batteries exemplify the

qualities needed for this function: they may store

relatively large amounts of energy efficiently for hours

at a time as well as ramp quickly. Storage efficiency

is very important for economical operation of time

shifting.

output smoothing/flattening: Even when RE

generation is producing energy at a time when it is

needed, the EES resource may be used to smooth

out fluctuations in frequency and voltage that result

from the inherently variable nature of RE generation.

Smoothing functions require ramping capability – the

ability to rapidly change power output or uptake in

order to regulate the output of the RE plant. When RE

output spikes, the EES technology must be capable

of storing the excess energy quickly. Conversely,

when output suddenly drops, the storage system

must be able to release energy quickly to provide

extra power, keeping the plant output stable.

The necessary function of storage facilities varies

according to the requirements. In some cases just

smoothing output is satisfactory, but in other cases

output is required to be kept at the fixed values.

Output smoothing at the plant level reduces the need

for power quality and ancillary services on the grid

itself.

Transmission utilisation efficiency: Because

RE generation is location-dependent, sufficient

transmission may not be available to move energy to

loads. It is often the case that transmission may be

available, but it may be heavily congested.

Generation-side EES resources may allow for more

efficient use of transmission capacity by allowing an

RE generation facility to wait to use the transmission

line until congestion has cleared. SECOND BOX

Generation-side case study of EES support of rE plant integration in Japan

In 2008, Japan Wind Development Company

(JWD) began operating the first commercial

‘Wind and NAS Battery Hybrid System’. The

plant consists of 51 MW (1 500 kW × 34 units)

of wind turbines and 34 MW (2 000 kW × 17

units) of NAS batteries.

The NAS battery application regulates the output

of the plant to produce more electricity during

high demand (price) periods, and less during

low demand (price) periods. Output can also be

reduced when system conditions require. JWD

has operated its wind and EES technologies in

combination according to plan for three years.

43


fEATURE

Demand-side roles of EES Energy storage has a number of applications

for energy consumers; time-shifting to reduce

consumption of grid electricity at peak times, firm

power for off-grid, renewably-powered homes or

critical industrial applications, and emergency power

supply are a few examples.

These applications, however, are related more to

the needs of the consumer than to solving particular

challenges related to the integration of large-capacity

RE. In seeking demand-side EES technologies that

directly relate to large capacity RE integration, only

one critical type emerges: electric vehicles.

EVs are significant to RE integration because of the

potential for aggregation. While a single EV can store

a relatively small amount of energy, many EVs all

plugged into the grid at the same time may someday

be operated as a single large energy-storage device,

or virtual power plant (VPP). As such an electric

vehicle virtual power plant (EVPP) may provide both

time-shifting and other energy applications to store

RE at times of low demand and release it to meet

peak demand, as well as operating reserves such as

frequency regulation service, increasing quantities of

which are needed as more variable RE generation is

added to a system. Such functions are referred to as

vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems. EVPPs providing V2G

services must satisfy the requirements of both vehicle

owners and grid operators. By aggregating individual

vehicles into a single controllable EES resource, an

EVPP can potentially achieve this balancing act,

bidding and providing ancillary services at all times

without locking a vehicle owner into a charging station

from which she or he cannot depart at will.

EVPPs are still conceptual in nature, and involve

significant complexities that are beyond the scope

of this report. A number of modelling efforts are

presently examining EVPP feasibility and architecture.

One of the more robust and RE-integration relevant

modelling efforts is located on the Danish island of

Bornholm, which relies heavily on wind turbines with

30 MW of wind capacity that services 22% of the

island’s load.

Summary EES may serve as a source of flexibility for the

integration of RE in a wide variety of ways, from

improving the grid-friendliness of RE generation itself

through increasing generation flexibility to providing

demand response from electric vehicles. These

represent the near-term uses of energy storage

as one means among many of providing system

flexibility. In the medium term, energy storage may

allow, through both balancing and time-shifting

functions, for more effective and full utilization of

transmission lines and thus assist in transmission

expansion and siting to RE resource areas. In the

longer term, energy storage may influence energy

system planning in unique and profound ways.

Large-scale, long-term energy storage such as

hydrogen and synthetic natural gas may provide a

means of storing seasonally-produced RE for months

or years and thus serve the need for dispatchable and

controllable generation that is currently met through

fossil fuels. The cost of such storage is currently

considered prohibitively expensive and the energy

penalties too high by many system operators and

governments. Advances in technology and shifts in

the politics of energy may be necessary before such a

future becomes likely.

Credit

This article is summarised from Section 5 of

‘Grid integration of large-capacity Renewable

Energy sources and use of large-capacity

Electrical Energy Storage’, a white paper

produced by the International Electrotechnical

Commission (IEC) and published in October

2012. The white paper is the third in a series

whose purpose is to ensure that the IEC can

continue to contribute with its standards and

conformity assessment services to the solution

of global challenges in electrotechnology.

‘Grid integration of large-capacity Renewable

Energy sources and use of large-capacity

Electrical Energy Storage’ was written by a

project team under the IEC’s market strategy

board, in particular the experts of the State Grid

Corporation of China and RASEI the Renewable

and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) in

the University of Colorado at Boulder and the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

in the US.

www.iec.ch

Essentially, generation-side use of EES aims to transform an uncontrollably variable and partially

unpredictable resource into a controlled and predictable one – it turns RE generation into something that looks

very much like conventional energy generation.

wITH bATTERIESgrid storage opportunities for Batteries

Source: Aquion

TEcHNOLOgy fOcUS

Batteries, which cover a range of technologies, are suitable for stationary grid storage applications both at the utility-scale and for community and other distributed storage applications near the consumer end of the distribution network. Unlike the electric vehicle market, which is suffering from overcapacity in battery production, in the coming years growth opportunities for grid connected stationary energy storage will drive demand for batteries, attracting new companies that are developing batteries for the specific demands of grid storage.

The utility-scale market will take time to establish

itself as utilities are conservative and risk averse.

According to Pike Research (part of Navigant

Consulting) reduced costs, regulatory support

and business model clarification is required for

utility-scale storage to become established. Pike

Research values the global market at $1.5 billion

by 2015 and this is a relatively conservative

forecast. Lux Research, for instance, predicts

the global grid-scale storage market to be worth

$114 billion by 2017 and Boston Consulting

Group forecasts a $400 billion market by 2020,

though precise breakdowns of grid-scale

markets by different analysts could be reason for

the varying forecast values.

Few markets have demonstration projects for

utility-scale battery based energy storage. They

include China and the US.

Though they require much fewer batteries than

utility-scale storage applications, distributed

storage demonstration projects are increasing

in number worldwide, in markets such as the

US state of California, Japan, South Korea and

the UK, where the government is providing

support to some projects that will piloting battery

storage to alleviate pressure on the low voltage

(LV) network that the predicted increase in PV

systems, heat pumps, electric vehicles and other

low carbon technologies will add. According

to a report published in 2012 produced for

the UK government the value in the majority

of future storage installations lies in distributed

storage on the semi-urban network. Instances

of partnerships between solar suppliers and

companies supplying energy storage systems

and technologies are increasing in order to

develop opportunities that are emerging.

Today the most popular primary applications

for advanced battery in stationary storage

applications is for load levelling/peak shifting,

where typically sodium-sulfur (NaS) batteries are

used. Other primary applications for batteries

include integration of renewables, where NaS

as well as flow and lead acid batteries are

used. For frequency regulation as the primary

application lithium ion (l-ion) batteries tend to

be used. Nickel cadmium (NiCd) batteries tend

to be favoured where spinning reserves is the

main application. In Q2 2012, nearly 250 MW

of installed capacity of NaS batteries were used

for load levelling/peak shifting, according to

Pike Research, with around 25 MW of installed

lithium-ion battery capacity for frequency

regulation applications.

‘wE NEED TO THINk AbOUT

THE PRObLEm DIffERENTLy. wE NEED TO

THINk bIg AND wE NEED

TO THINk cHEAP …

LET’S INVENT TO THE PRIcE POINT Of THE

ELEcTRIcITy mARkET.’

45


TEcHNOLOgy fOcUS

by STAff

New battery products developed for grid storage

However, as various regions, such as Europe,

increase renewables capacity to meet carbon

reduction targets many companies are bringing

to market new cost-effective, scalable and

safe battery technologies. US zinc-air battery

developer Eos is scaling up battery prototypes

(5 kW/30 kWh units) for initial manufacturing

in 2013 and delivery of MW-scale systems to

first customers in 2014. The company’s Aurora

grid product is a 1 MW/6 MWh energy storage

system for the electric grid with 1 MW optimal

power for six hours with surge capability. The

price of the battery for major orders is $1000/

kW.

Aquion Energy was spun out of Carnegie Mellon

University in 2009 to develop a low cost battery,

initially for off-grid and microgrid applications.

The battery is suitable for grid services such as

deep-energy-daily-cycling (four or more hours),

load shifting, diesel optimisation, renewables

integration and transmission and distribution

(T&D) referral. The company is headquartered in

Pittsburgh.

The Aquion battery is based on a propriety

aqueous hybrid ion (AHI) chemistry, to provide

superior life, safety, durability, and low system

costs. The anode consists of activated carbon,

the cathode of manganese oxide and the

electrolyte from water based sodium sulphate

and the separator from cotton. The battery is

sealed in a polypropylene casing, the cells are

self-balancing and the architecture is modular

and scalable, with no thermal management

required, no maintenance and limited balance of

system requirements.

Aquion will produce its batteries from its plant

in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. The firm is

targeting different global markets by various

applications, for example rural electrification in

Africa, weak grids in India, grid arbitrage in the

US and Europe as well as renewables integration

globally.

Towards the end of 2012 Aquion entered

pilot manufacturing of its batteries to meet

demand for the various demonstration projects

where it is sampling its batteries with potential

customers. This year the company’s main focus

is on microgrid and off-grid opportunities for

its batteries, where energy storage integrated

with solar can be used instead of diesel power

generation backup. The market is potentially

global. VP of business development Ted Wiley

cites south-east Asia, Australia, India as well as

the US, where micro-grid markets are driven by

the military and mission critical facilities, or even

as back-up power support during the hurricane

season that often causes power outages.

Potential partners the company is aiming to

work with include systems integrators. Though it

has some projects lined up it is actively seeking

potential partners that it can sample its batteries

to, for lab assessments on performance and

where partners can support Aquion in finalising

specifications and ultimately to bring its batteries

to market as part of off-grid and microgrid

energy storage systems.

In late 2013 Aquion will then move into high-

volume production in anticipation of supplying

utility-scale projects and demand in early 2014.

The utility market will require batteries in much

higher quantities while the microgrid and off-grid

markets will provide manageable demand ahead

of the company scaling production.

Ambri (formerly Liquid Metal Battery Technology)

is targeting grid-scale opportunities for energy

storage provided by the increased use of

intermittent renewables such as solar and wind.

Ambri, which was spun out from Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2010, is backed

by investors that include Bill Gates, Total and

Khosla Ventures. The company is bringing to

PIkE RESEARcH VALUESTHE gLObAL mARkET fOR

UTILITy-ScALE ENERgySTORAgE TO REAcH AT

$1.5 bILLION by 2015

TEcHNOLOgy fOcUS

market an all-liquid battery – a process known

as reversible ambipolar electrolysis. The design

avoids cycle-to-cycle capacity fade. This is

because the electrodes are reconstituted with

each charge through an alloying/de-alloying

process, enabling the battery to exceed 70%

round-trip efficiency without degradation.

Low cost battery for grid-scale storage

Ambri’s cells consist of a molten salt electrolyte

that sits between a high density metal on the

bottom and a low density metal on top, when

heated to the melting point. In a charged state

a thermodynamic driving force between the

top metal layer and the bottom metal layer

creates a cell voltage. The movement of the

electrons through the cell generate enough

heat to keep the battery at temperature.

An additional advantage is that no thermal

management or control is required, ensuring

the battery’s simplicity. All components are

based on abundant elements. Each cell is a

16-inch square unit containing about 1200

Wh. The cells are then placed into 25 kW (100

kWh) refrigerator-sized modules. To produce

commercial grid-scale storage battery banks

Ambri will pack the modules into a 40-ft shipping

container, rated at 500 kW and 2 MWh storage

capacity.

Ambri’s strategy to commercialise its technology

initially targets applications where large amounts

of energy need to be stored and the battery can

respond in milliseconds. This will potentially open

up markets where Ambri can charge premium

prices for storing and delivering electricity to the

grid to make up for fluctuations in supply and

demand, which will become more acute as more

wind and solar power is installed. To reduce

capital costs in future Ambri has created a

battery design that can be fabricated in existing

factories using contract manufacturing.

The recent fate of A123, which filed for

bankruptcy in 2012, suggests that developing

new, potentially game-changing battery

technologies is no less risky any other high-tech

field. However, by exploiting abundant materials

for their respective battery technologies, nascent

players such as Ambi and Aquion are keeping

cost at the forefront, because for intermittent

renewables to become a mainstream form of

energy generation, low-cost high performance

storage technologies are going to be absolutely

critical in the coming years. Speaking at a TED

conference earlier this year, professor Don

Sadoway, the inventor of Ambri’s liquid metal

battery, said: ‘The need for grid level storage is

compelling, but the fact is today there is simply

know battery technology capable of meeting

the demanding performance requirements of

the grid, namely uncommonly high power, long

service lifetime and super-low-cost. We need

to think about the problem differently. We need

to think big and we need to think cheap ... let’s

invent to the price point of the electricity market.’

potential partners aquion is aiming to work with include systems integrators. though it has some proJects lined up it is actively seeking potential partners that it can sample its Batteries to.

47


TEcHNOLOgy fOcUS

Aquion has developied an advanced battery for a variety of stationary applications and is working with partners such as systems integrators to bring the technology to market Source: Aquion

ENERgy STORAgE& SOLAR EVENTS18-19 march 2013 Energy Storage Congress Center Düsseldorf (CCD), Messe Düsseldorf, Germany

At the inaugural Energy Storage summit

and exhibition, held in March 2012, 20

exhibitors presented their products and

services in the field of storage technology

and 350 participants from 29 countries

took part in the two-day conference with

accompanying exhibition.

The show also includes the Energy Storage Production Technology Forum.

www.energy-storage-online.com

16-20 april

Solar 2013Baltimore, Maryland, US

SOLAR 2013, taking place at the Baltimore

Convention Center, in Maryland, is

managed by staff and volunteers under the

supervision of ASES and its local chapter,

the Mid Atlantic Solar Energy Society

(MASES). SOLAR 2013, ASES’ 42nd

Annual National Solar Conference, gathers

the nation’s top solar energy experts in all

topical areas and for the first time ever,

the National Solar Conference encourages

Young Professionals to present their

papers alongside those of industry experts.

SOLAR 2013 highlighted technical

sessions include:

- Trends in Distributed Renewable Energy

Generation & Storage

- Financing Distributed Generation

Projects

- The Facts about Community Solar

- Developments in Micro-grids and

Distributed Storage Technologies

For more information, visit www.ases.org/

solar2013/about-solar-2013/

23-25 april 2013

6th Energy Storage Forum Berlin, Germany

Past Energy Storage Forums in Asia

(Beijing, Tokyo) and in Europe (Barcelona,

Paris, Rome) have altogether attracted

over 500 professionals from 20 countries.

Some of the past speakers have included

utilities such as EDF and ENEL. The

Forum, to be held at the Hotel Kempinski

Bristol, in Berlin, aims to get deeper

into the business case according to

different applications by comparing

different technologies including: flywheel,

li-ion, CAES, flow battery, hydrogen,

supercapacitors, power electronics,

hydropower and new alternative

technologies. The forum is broadening its

expanding its remit to further explore the

role of wind, solar and power electronics in

energy storage. The event is supported by

the Electricity Storage Association (ESA),

which is based in Washington DC.

More information about the event can be

found at www.energystorageforum.com

8-9 may 2013

Global Solar SummitMilan, Italy

The global solar industry is facing a

tumultuous phase as market consolidation

has profoundly impacted the sector with

weaker players being pushed out of

business. In the upcoming months many

challenges will need to be addressed by

the solar community at worldwide scale.

The first edition of the Global Solar

Summit, which will be held in Milan on

8-9 May in conjunction with Solarexpo,

will strive to answer those challenges

by bringing together Industry leaders

and decision makers with the purpose

of helping drive the solar energy sector

forward.

Highlights of the event include:

Solar energy & the energy marketsStatus and prospects of PV and CSP

Comparative value of solar power in the

context of the global energy markets

High grid penetrationDiscussion forum between the solar

industry and the utilities Ancillary

services, grid storage and other enabling

technologies

New and emerging markets How sustainably and how quickly can they

fill the sales gap?

Growth drivers, volatility, business models,

prospects

For more information, visit www.global-

solar-summit.com/eng/highlights/

14-16 may 2013

7th SNEC international Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference Shanghai, China

SNEC (2013) International Photovoltaic

Power Generation Conference & Exhibition

[SNEC PV POWER EXPO] will be held in

events 49


Shanghai, China, 14-16 May.

The conference will cover all the

aspects of photovoltaic technology and

manufacturing, including equipment/

devices, materials, processes,

manufacturing, integration, as well

as emerging PV technologies and

applications.

For more information, visit http://www.

snec.org.cn/Default.aspx?lang=en.

17-21 June 2013

intersolar EuropeMunich, Germany

From June 19–21, 2013, the international

solar industry’s largest manufacturers,

suppliers, distributors and service

providers are convening to showcase the

latest market developments and technical

innovations at Intersolar Europe, in Messe

München, Germany.

Intersolar Europe has enjoyed rapid

growth over the past few years, clearly

underscoring the exhibition’s status as a

global industry hub for solar technology.

This year, 1500 exhibitors and 60,000

visitors are expected at the show.

As well as providing an extensive

conference programme on solar markets

and technologies, business models,

encompassing silicon and thin film PV,

and solar thermal Intersolar Europe’s

conference programme includes energy

storage topics, from policy and market

prospects to technologies.

The exhibition runs from 19-21 June and

the conference runs from 17-20 June.

For more information, visit www.intersolar.

de/en/intersolar-europe.html.

8-11 July 2013

intersolar North AmericaSan Francisco, USA

Intersolar North America 2013 will run

from 8-11 July. This year’s show has been

expanded to include an energy storage

exhibition segment.

Visitor registration for Intersolar North

America 2013 will be available from 18

March. For more information about the

show, visit www.intersolar.us.

10-12 septemBer 2013

Energy Storage North AmericaCalifornia, USSan Jose Convention Center

With the first staging of Energy Storage

North America (ESNA) from 10-12

September 2013 at the San Jose

Convention Center in California, Messe

Düsseldorf will bring its successful concept

from Germany to the US.

Jointly organised by Messe Düsseldorf

North America and Strategen Consulting,

ESNA 2013 will be the first energy storage

conference and expo in the US to focus

exclusively on applications, customers and

deal making.

ESNA 2013 is strategically timed to

coincide with potential new energy storage

procurement targets for California load

serving entities pursuant to AB 2514.

Exhibitor applications and information

as well as conference registration are

available online at www.ESNAexpo.com.

17-19 septemBer 2013

The Battery ShowNovi, Michigan, USA

Taking place 17-19 September, Novi,

Detroit, Michigan, The Battery Show 2013

is the premier showcase of the latest

advanced battery technology.

The exhibition hall offers a platform to

launch new products, make new contacts

and maintain existing relationships. With

more qualified buyers and decision makers

than any other event in North America, The

Battery Show 2013 is the key to unlocking

your organisation’s future business

opportunities.

The Battery Show is attended by technical

leaders, scientists, engineers, project

leaders, buyers and senior executives

concerned with advanced energy

storage and will host the very latest

advanced battery solutions for electric

& hybrid vehicles, utility & renewable

energy support, portable electronics,

medical technology, military and

telecommunications.

For more information, visit www.

thebatteryshow.com.

30 septemBer - 4 octoBer 2013

28th EU PVSEC Paris, France

The 28th European Photovoltaic Solar

Energy Conference and Exhibition (28th

EU PVSEC) will take place from 30

September to 04 October 2013 at Parc

des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte in

Paris, France.

The five-day Conference is complemented

by the three-day Exhibition, held from 1-3

October 2013. The event is being held in

a period when France is increasing its PV

activities, including the launch of a new set

of incentive measures and a doubling of

the country’s 2013 PV installation targets.

Paris represents one of the world’s leading

business centres. The city hosts the

headquarters of international organisations

such as UNESCO, ESA – European

Space Agency, OECD – Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development,

IEA – International Energy Agency, ICC

– International Chamber of Commerce,

REN21 – Renewable Energy Policy

Network for the 21st Century and many

more.

In addition to the conference programme,

EU PVSEC 2013 includes several parallel

events including PV Production Forum

2013, which has been expanded to

include energy storage subjects.

For more information about the 28th

EU PVSEC, visit www.photovoltaic-

conference.com

� For €3000, an annual membership to IPVEA provides a host of discounts and benefits

� Significant discounts on raw booth space at large solar shows

� Free listing and entry in the PV Matrix – a real-time platform representing the PV supply chain

� Free PV industry book-to-bill data

� Free weekly solar energy intelligence reports and e-bulletins

� Free subscription to Update – IPVEA’s official newsletter, which provides latest news on equipment providers, IPVEA events and IPVEA-sponsored conferences and shows, exclusive analysis of PV industry and market trends, profiles and case studies.

� Free subscription to Energy Storage Journal – a new quarterly B2B publication covering business and market strategies for energy storage and smart grid technologies

� Discounts to leading solar industry conferences and events

� Discounts on technical publications

� Numerous brand-building and networking opportunities at major solar shows including:

� IPVEA member press conferences and press materials

� Exposure through the website www.ipvea.org

� IPVEA video casts

� Inclusion on appropriate panels at key industry trade events

� IPVEA member pavilions at trade shows

� Use of the IPVEA & PV Matrix logos to support branding

� Listing in IPVEA PV Directory and Update newsletter

…much more. IPVEA is working to forge stronger ties between solar and energy storage.

Join IPVEA and be part of it.

[email protected] / www.ipvea.org

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