EVs and Storage News

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and automaker BMW are teaming up to test the ability of electric vehicle batteries to provide services to the electric grid. If successful, the pilot program could pave the way for utility payments that could stimulate further customer purchases of electric vehicles. PG&E selected BMW to manage a minimum of 100 kW of electric demand on PG&E's system. BMW will help PG&E manage power demand on its grid in two ways.

CODA Energy announced the full interconnection and operation of the largest behind the meter lithium-ion energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin. The 1,054kWh / 510kW system was developed under a contract with South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) and co-funded through California's Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). The project demonstrates the scalability of CODA Energy's peak shaving product architecture by managing demand charges for its facility headquarters.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES Americas) signed agreements to cooperate on launching an innovative battery storage project in Whatcom County, Washington. Electricity will be stored in battery modules that are as large as 40-foot shipping containers and will be capable of providing up to 18 hours of power during an outage for the core area of Glacier. PSE is working with Washington State’s department of commerce in developing this pilot project.

Europe's largest battery-storage project was officially opened by the Department for Energy and Climate Change at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. S&C Electric Europe, Samsung SDI and Younicos collaborated to deploy the technology onto a United Kingdom Power Networks substation.

Eos Energy Storage demonstrated its grid-scale battery system at Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) smart grid lab in San Ramon, Calif., with the support of a $2.1 million award from the California Energy Commission.

Georgia Power launched its new EV charger rebate program for business customers. The two-year program, informed by feedback from Georgia businesses, offers business customers a $500 rebate for installing 240-volt Level 2 (L2) chargers. The business customer program is part of a larger electric transportation pilot initiative which includes promoting public education, supporting community charging stations for public use, enhancing charging options at select Georgia Power facilities and offering rebates for residential customers who install EV chargers at their homes.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) developed two grid-scale energy storage projects outside of Chicago that, once completed in 2015, will be the largest, fully commercial energy storage projects in North America. RES Americas will develop and construct the two 19.8-MW energy storage systems, each having the ability to store 7.8 MWh of energy. The first project, Elwood Energy Storage Center, will be located in West Chicago and the second project, Jake Energy Storage Center, in Joliet.

AES Southland was awarded a 20-year PPA by Southern California Edison (SCE), to provide 100 MW of interconnected battery-based energy storage, a 200-MW flexible power resource. This new capacity can deliver 400 MWh of energy and will be built south of Los Angeles at the Alamitos Power Center in Long Beach, California. This selection is an outcome of SCE’s 2013 Local Capacity Requirements Request for Offer (RFO), a competitive solicitation for new power capacity in the Western Los Angeles Basin.

Pepco will deploy Itron and ClipperCreek’s electric vehicle smart charging pilot solution. The technology, which combines ClipperCreek’s charging station with Itron embedded sensing technology, provides the foundation for Pepco’s Demand Management Pilot Program for plug-in vehicle charging. The pilot program is to validate electric vehicle smart charging stations to support consumer engagement, demand response, time-of-use rates and embedded revenue-grade metering.

Enphase Energy introduced its Enphase AC Battery, an advanced energy storage solution with a modular, plug-and-play storage device fully integrated with the just-introduced Enphase Energy Management System. As part of the AC Battery rollout, Enphase has engaged several installation companies for pilot projects, including Lennar Homes, Hawaii Energy Connection and Vivint Solar in the U.S.; Pretty Green Energy, CJ Solar and Domuneo in Europe; and Metro Solar in Australia.