THE ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE · PDF fileBusiness Directory 62 Publishing 64. CARBON ... The Centre for Solar Energy and Hyd-rogen Research Baden-Württemberg ... The companies Aquion

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INTERNATIONALTHE ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE MAGAZINE

ees 02 2015ISSUE 05

EXPANSIONees exhibition goes North America » Page 13

SECOND LIFE BATTERIES 1st Call for ESS Pilot Projects? » Page 46

GRID STABILITY Solar & Storage Systems: Friend or Foe to the Grid? » Page 30

Fuel Cell Vehicles put to the Test» Page 6

NEWS

MARKETS The ees AWARD Finalists » Page 10

TECHNOLOGY EEBatt – The Energy Storage Research Project » Page 34

PRODUCTION Transformation of an Energy Storage Systems Provider » Page 42

APPLICATION Solar Forecasting: Take Control of your System » Page 51

UK CHALLENGE Energy Storage: Can the UK unlock its Potential? » Page 16

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION SERIES FOR

BATTERIES, ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS AND

INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION

ENERGY STORAGE

MEETS NORTH AMERICA'S

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EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS

ENERGY STORAGE

INNOVATIONS

JULY 14–16, 2015SAN FRANCISCOUSA

NOV 18–20, 2015MUMBAIINDIA

MUST-ATTEND EVENT

FOR THOSE DRIVING

THE ENERGY STORAGE

INDUSTRY FORWARD!

JUNE 22–24, 2016MUNICHGERMANY

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EDITORIAL

1EDITORIAL

ees International | 02 | 2015

Sabine Kloos – Editor in Chief, ees International

When Tesla-CEO Elon Musk announced to launch the Powerwall on the storage market, this young and dynamic billion dollar market with its enor-mous growth potential was shaken to the core. The 110-kilogramm flat battery pack system co-mes in an aesthetic design (available in a range of colors) for homes and businesses and is made for indoor and outdoor applications. “It looks like a beautiful sculpture on the wall,” said Musk unvei-ling the Powerwall in Los Angeles. According to Bloomberg, Tesla was able to take reservations for its new storage device amounting to an esti-mated $ 800 million in the first week alone – but the company refuses to comment whether these are all binding pre-orders. Nevertheless, it is a clear signal, maybe even a “declaration of war” on its competitors.

Even though the Powerwall itself is not a techni-cal revolution and it is rather the brand and the very charismatic CEO that have an effect on the customer, Tesla is stimulating the market. After Tesla’s announcement almost each and every leading company in the storage industry felt the urge to criticise the new product – claiming that it looks better than it is or that it is merely a car battery featuring a fancy design which is moun-ted to the wall.

Much ado about nothing or the iPhone of the storage market? It remains to be seen in 2016 whether Tesla’s Powerwall will be able to revolu-tionize the storage market in the same way that Apple’s iPhone has jump-started the smartphone market. Design, name and price will do the rest. That much is clear, but Tesla must suit their actions to the word as it is also clear that some of its competitors fear for their position in the market.

You should note the name of Stefan Quandt, major shareholder in BMW, who also holds a 90 percent share in Solarwatt, the German solar pio-neer. Even BMW, with its electric vehicle line “i”, clearly witnesses the kind of potential the compa-ny has in cooperating with Solarwatt. At the ees and Intersolar Europe in Munich Solarwatt is now expected to present the storage system MyReser-ve – which has been grandly announced. On the

one hand, Solarwatt will benefit from the Tesla-driven awareness in the home storage market as the world is waiting for the big bang in the mar-ket and Solarwatt will be able to deliver its pro-duct to the customers long before Tesla. On the other hand, Solarwatt is putting pressure on Tesla as Musk’s product is said to be of lower quality. Solarwatt bets on the nickel cobalt manganese technology which is said to be more durable.

Moreover, while Musk wants to limit the possible combinations to Tesla products, MyReserve will be compatible with all kinds of inverters and solar PV products, Solarwatt says. BMW was not the only company who reacted on Tesla’s announce-ment. E.g. well-known German battery-maker Sonnenbatterie and their partner Sungevity de-clared that they will undercut Tesla/Solarcity in storage pricing. As things have to be evaluated in direct comparison, it is therefore all the more ex-citing to meet the storage companies, including Tesla, at the ees Europe in order to be able to decide for oneself who will get ahead of com-petition in future, having the most competitive product, technology and price. At the end of the day: The customer is king.

Almost at the same time as Tesla made its an-nouncement, researchers at Stanford announced what some experts may call a breakthrough in battery technology: The aluminum-ion (Al-ion) battery appears to offer several advantages over lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in regards to safety, durability, flexibility – and aluminum is even che-aper than lithium. Yes, it may be far too early to speak of a breakthrough but like Tesla, innovation and research are stimulating the young and dyna-mic storage market – the future will be anything but boring!

We are pleased to present valuable information in this issue of ees International – The Electrical Energy Storage Magazine and hope to see you in Munich or San Francisco at our ees booth!

We hope you will find reading the magazine en-joyable and inspiring.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2ees International | 02 | 2015

Editorial 1

NEWSFuel Cell Vehicles put to the Test 6

Flow Battery proves itself in Pullman Project 6

Development of Supercapacitor with higher Voltages 6

KIT Karlsruhe officially puts Solar Power Storage System into Operation 8

Staff News 9 Maxwell welcomes new Senior Vice President Barton is Enovation Partners’ new Senior Energy Expert ASD Top Management Team gains new Member

Product News 9 Solar Project supplied by ViZn’s Zinc-Iron Redox Battery AC Battery developed by LG Chem and Eguana Deutsche Energieversorgung extends its Product Range

MARKETSThe ees AWARD Finalists 10 By Simin Werner

ees goes North America 13 By Katrin Schirrmacher

Energy Storage: Can the UK unlock its Potential? 16 By Jonathan Cohen

U.S. Storage Market: Visions of the Future 19 By Angeline Rast By James J. Greenberger

Using a Levelized Cost of Storage 22 By Daniel Gabaldon By Ken-Ichi Hino

Smart Storage for Solar Power 26 By Abid Kazim

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 ees International | 02 | 2015

TECHNOLOGY Solar and Storage Systems: Friend or Foe to the Grid? 30 By Christophe Goasguen

EEBatt – The Energy Storage Research Project 34 By Markus Müller By Simon C. Mueller

Evolution of a Market 37 By Ross Bruton

PRODUCTION Transformation of an Energy Storage Systems Provider 42 By Katrin Schirrmacher By CEO Anil Srivastava

1st Call for ESS Pilot Projects? 46 By Dirk Spiers

APPLICATIONCarbon – The Answer to Partial State of Charge 48 By Bryan Godber

Solar Forecasting: Take Control of your System 51 By Nicolas Schmutz

Grid-Scale Energy Storage - More than just Pilot Projects 54 By Katrin Schirrmacher By John Jung

Looking ahead at Solar-Plus-Storage in the U.S. 58 By Ravi Manghani

SERVICEConferences & Exhibitions 62

Business Directory 62

Publishing 64

CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCED BY 80 %

CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCED BY 80 %

» Located in the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island is a former prison, which served as a military pri-son during World War I. In 1950, the island was cut off from the power line grid of San Francisco when a ship’s anchor ruptured the underwater lines. In the following diesel fuel and coal was used to satisfy the island’s power demand, the need for the island to find an alternative opti-on was becoming more and more important. Princeton Power Systems was entrusted with the project in 2010, as part of National Park Service’s (NPS) program to reduce fuel costs and to limit pollution. The microgrid system now covering the Island’s power load consists of Princeton Pow-er Grid-tied inverters, a 350kW solar array, ad-vanced batteries, a Princeton Power Systems Site Controller and two backup-generators. Considering the annual savings the system can achieve, carbon emission reduction comes to rough-ly 80%. The PV array is capable of producing power of about 175 kW a day at its peak. Excess energy is stored in batteries, which provide pow-er when there is no sunlight available. Generators are used to recharge these batteries. A frequency-shifting control system guarantees the efficient use of any power delivered without surplus power. Alcatraz Island Microgrid System of Princeton Power Systems was one of the Intersolar AWARD winners of the category: Solar Project in North America.

Source: Princeton Power Systems

© Princeton Power Systems


Fuel cell vehicles put to the test

The Centre for Solar Energy and Hyd-rogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), containing Europe’s largest fuel cell and battery infrastructure, reached remarkable results, applying a special endurance test.

As the demand for fuel cell powered passenger cars is increasing, the need for testing is also growing. In addition to new models from Korea and Ja-pan, like the Hyundai model, that will enter the German market, dispenser infrastructure is also being developed further.

Fuel cells have to meet a broad range of criteria for automotive applications. Factors like stability, car safety and ef-ficiency, meaning as little hydrogen consumption as possible, have to be taken into consideration. The fuel cell

Source: ZSW/ T. Bosa

test center in Ulm offers the frame-work conditions to carry out the so-called “fuel cell dynamic load cycles” (FC-DLC), as “such comparative measu-rements are difficult to take on the road because the result depends too heavily on the driving style and climatic conditions”, explains Professor Werner Tillmetz, head of the Electrochemical Energy Technologies division.

While performing 73 of FC-DLC a day, the 100-kilowatt fuel cell stack passed 512 load cycles per week, which corre-sponds to an entire distance of 5,621 km per week without any difficulties

Flow battery proves itself in Pullman project

A special kind of storage battery has been developed by UniEnergy Tech-nologies. The so-called flow battery is integrated in an industrial park in Pullman, Washington, and is tested as a power supplier to satisfy various de-mands.

The project’s costs of $7 million are paid by both the region’s utility Avis-ta and a state clean energy fund. The storage units can store about 3.2

megawatt-hours of energy, releasing utility-scale amounts of electricity. On the one hand, they are supposed to provide extra electricity to the grid at peak demand times but considering its location on the premises of a large electrical engineering company, the system is also put in the test of keeping the power chain stable. “It will be fast enough so that the equipment won’t notice the outage”, predicts Rick Win-ter, chief operating officer.

What makes the battery different from other battery types is its physical sta-te. While other batteries are mainly

solid, the flow battery is mostly liquid. In comparison with lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, the flow battery is bigger in size and offers a much longer life as well as unlimited cycles. Further-more, it can be completely discharged, which is a clear advantage over its competitors.

Source:© Janis Smits | fotolia.com

Development of supercapaci-tor with higher voltages

The companies Aquion Energy and Ideal Power recently announced the compatibility of their products. Accor-ding to testing results, Ideal Power’s Power Conversion Systems (PCS) per-fectly complement the performance of Aquion’s AHI batteries, enhancing their efficiency and reliability.

Aquion is convinced of the quality of Ideal Power’s PCS, which are based on the innovative and patented Power Pa-cket Switching Architecture™ (PPSA).

It renders conventional converters dis-pensable and allows an easy installati-on and cost reductions.

Meanwhile, the PCS have been selec-ted by the Sunwave Energy Efficiency division of ONEnergy and will now be deployed in their energy storage so-lutions to be launched in Canada and several U.S. states in the middle of the year. Sunwave’s solutions address various commercial as well as indust-rial applications such as, for example, demand charge management, peak shaving, and backup systems.

Source: Ideal Power

NEWS


NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

01A step forward. A research team from the Lawrence Livermore Na-tional Laboratory achieved an im-portant milestone in developing a new energy storage solution. They used a 3D-printing technique called direct ink writing to produce micro-lattices consisting of graphene aero-gel. This gel-based material is used almost as conventional ink, with the difference that it can build 3D structures. Featuring properties like lightweight, electrical conductivity and compressibility, the graphene aerogels are considered a possible improvement to, for example, ener-gy storage and nanoelectronics.

02 Rent-a-Storage. Demand is often cut by the financial risk of purchasing an energy storage, due to the lack of experience. StoREgio members ads-tec, Siemens and Fraunhofer ISE now offer potential storage buyers the opportunity to test the system in advance. With this rent concept called StoREnt, customers recei-ve an impression and benefit from optional advisory services. StoREnt ready for use systems are based on lithium-ion technology and meet all safety standards. The companies are planning an extension of the system for the future, which optimally com-bines the members’ competences.

03 A slice of the cake. Electrical distri-butor Gexpro takes a place among the providers of home batteries. It will offer a battery energy storage solution (BESS), thus stepping into the on-site power storage market. In order to do this, the company teams up with the leading compa-nies Growing Energy Labs Inc. (Geli), Ideal Power and LG Chem. The first Gexpro BESS available in North America will be a 30 kW, 45 kWh system, designed for use in behind-the-meter demand charge reduc-tion applications.

04GE shows off its potential. Con Edison’s subsidiary Con Edison De-velopment will be supplied with an 8 MWh energy storage system by General Electric, which is meant to be installed on a site in Central Val-ley, California. The system is the first utility-scale system GE has delivered so far. It will comprise lithium-ion batteries with a GE Mark Vie con-trol system. According to Jeff Wyatt, general manager at GE, it is the lithi-um-ion technology which has been added to their product range, that now allows customers tofind more flexible solutions to meet individual demands.

05Good chances for 2015. As data recently published by research firm Mercom Capital Group show, in-vestment increased remarkably in the first quarter of 2015, compa-red to the fourth quarter of 2014. Each of the two sectors smart grid and storage can register a growth. As for the smart grid sector, figures climbed up to $185 million, which is an increase of $126 million. At least a total of $69 million was raised in seven deals by battery/storage com-panies, in contrast to $47 million at the end of 2014.

06Iron challenge. Researchers are working on a new EV battery to guarantee enhanced efficiency, compactness and a longer range. The potentially miracle-working compound is iron fluoride, used in manufacturing metals. According to research results, iron fluoride leads to the triple amount of stored ener-gy in comparison to a conventio-nal lithium-ion battery. As the iron fluoride battery does not meet the expectations of efficient charge and discharge, the team is now analy-zing the battery to figure out the reasons and its further potential.

Energy for life.

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“A bridge between fundamen-tal research and application“

KIT Karlsruhe officially puts Solar Po-wer Storage System into operation

Today, the increasing demand for re-newable energy sources is leading to a grid load that has to be somehow off-set. The Karlsruhe Institute of Techno-logy (KIT) has developed a power sto-rage system that is supposed to supply the building with electricity and assist in testing processes. The system is in-stalled at the “Helmholtz Institute Ulm for Electrochemical Energy Storage” (HIU), which was established by KIT in cooperation with the University of Ulm in January 2011.

With the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Würt-temberg (ZSW), two other renowned institutions are involved in the HIU as associated partners. The international team of about 115 scientists at HIU is working on developing the fundamen-tals of viable energy storage systems for stationary and mobile use further.

On Wednesday, May 6th, the newly introduced storage solution was inau-gurated by a committee of the KIT, the HIU and the University of Ulm as well as political representatives. The event took place at the HIU in Ulm and was dedicated to the commissioning of the plant and the storage. Facing the challenges of pushing forward the

Energiewende (energy transition), the KIT is now demonstrating how modern high-performance batteries and smart controls make renewable energy com-patible with the grid. Expensive and controversial grid extension measures can be reduced in this way.

Source: Frederik Elschenbroich, ads-tec

Featuring a battery capacity of 76 kWh, the system allows a reduction of mains power consumption of 31 MWh. Moreover, a smart control unit supervi-ses the relation between consumption and production, channeling electricity in an efficient way. “We demonstrate that economy and ecology do not ex-clude each other, but may give rise to marketable solutions”, emphasizes Ul-rich Breuer, Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs at the KIT.

Now that the system has been put into operation, it offers several benefits for its users. As Horst Hahn, Director of

the HIU, explains the system serves as both an object of study and an elec-tricity supplier. Examining the reactions of the system with regard to its grid compatibility, solar storage units can thus be made interoperable more ea-sily. A further target is the testing of

novel battery materials under real ope-ration conditions.

Simone Schwanitz, Director-General of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, clearly pointed out the need for action: “The transformation of the energy system in Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Europe is a big challenge. Modern storage technologies are a major ap-proach to solving this problem. With this system, the KIT builds a bridge between fundamental research and application.”

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

07Across the border. Sungevity an-nounced a partnership with Sonnen-batterie. The solar company will use their channels to sell Sonnenbatterie’s systems to its customers in the USA and the Netherlands as from the se-cond half of 2015, which makes Son-nenbatterie benefit from the exten-ded customer base.

08Getting higher. Global player Saft delivers its Sunica.plus battery to Hörnlihütte, one of the highest mountain lodges located in the Swiss Alps. The system features a capacity of 5,490 Ah, especially designed for operation at low temperatures and able to power the lodge for at least 24 hours despite a lack of sunlight

09Following the trend. SunPower has been reselling Stem's behind-the-meter battery systems for the last five months. This offer is expected to reach more commercial and indust-rial customers, considering the high demand for storage solutions. The added distribution channels also wi-dens Stem’s customer base.

NEWS


Maxwell welcomes new Senior Vice President

The leading manufacturer of energy storage and power delivery solutions Maxwell Technologies named Michael Finger new senior vice president of glo-bal sales. Finger held a series of senior sales and management positions with Hella KGaA Huek & Co. and TT Electro-nics. "Michael's extensive international sales and management experience […], gives him excellent credentials to ener-gize our global sales organization," said Dr. Franz Fink, Maxwell's president and CEO.

Barton is Enovation Partners’ new Senior Energy Expert

Enovation Partners, an energy and in-frastructure consultancy publicizing the slogan “Results, not just reports.” has engaged Brad Barton, the former director of commercialization and de-ployment at the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.Ro-bert Zabors, Enovation Partners’ CEO, considers Barton “a great addition to our group”. Before joining EP, Barton worked, among others, for A.T. Kear-ney and private-equity firm Hillwood Development.

ASD Top management team gains new member

Headquartered in Umkirch in southern Germany, the ASD Automatic Storage Device GmbH has welcomed Matthias Ruh as its new managing director. Prior to this, he was head of sales at Somont and also worked for other well-known firms like Meyer Burger. Mr. Ruh now completes the management team of Gerd Knoll and Wolfram Walter, who are looking forward to working with their new colleague, appreciating his “great deal of experience in selling innovative, high-tech products to the international market”.

Solar Project supplied by ViZn’s zinc-iron redox battery

Source: © www.dom.com

ViZn Energy Systems is joining Domi-nion and Randolph-Macon College in their Solar Project. The two companies have already been working on the pro-ject and will now be supplied by ViZn with their zinc-iron redox battery. The Z20 redox flow battery, which is the most cost-effective flow battery sys-tem on the market at the moment, has already been installed at Randolph-Macon College to test utility integrati-on with renewable generation.

AC Battery developed by LG Chem and Eguana

Source: @ ty | fotolia.com

LG Chem and Eguana Technologies will develop a certified and fully integrated AC Battery for residential markets. The battery is designed to offer compatibi-lity with any of the Energy Storage Ma-nagement Systems currently available. Requiring only a grid connection and a dispatch signal, the AC Battery ensures a fully functional and controllable ener-gy storage solution. It features a broad range of grid management devices such as voltage control, frequency re-gulation, demand response and load balancing.

Deutsche Energieversorgung extends its product range

Source: Deutsche Energieversorgung GmbH

The manufacturer of energy storage systems has announced its new sto-rage battery SENEC.Home 4.0 Pb. It features the proven lead acid technolo-gy and a capacity of 4 kWh. That way the company provides a solution for PV plants with a peak power of 4 kWh and less. Available as from June, the system will be introduced at the ees Europe exhibition & Conference in Munich . It offers up to 3,200 cycles at a dischar-ge depth of 50 % and the lowest price in its class. After 10 years of warranty, battery and inverters can be replaced for €499 and €299, respectively.

By Simin Werner ees International

© S

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» The ees AWARD finalists The contributions for this year’s ees and Intersolar AWARD are 103 widely diversified products and projects from a total of 19 countries. The winners of the ees and Intersolar AWARD will be announced during the official award ceremonies in Munich on June 10 and in San Francisco on July 14. Most of the contributions are from Germany and the USA, followed by a great number from other European countries and Asia. Among the contributions, the fol-lowing four sectors make up a substan-tial proportion.

Battery and cell technologies are currently dominated by the lithium-ion technology. Bat-tery cycles can be increased at discharge rates of nearly 100%. Not only efficiency and robustness but also a reduction in production costs makes the lithium-ion battery increasingly attractive. Other battery types like the sodium-ion batte-ry also register a rise in competitiveness. With an extended service life of up to 5,000 cycles, It has the potential to work with fixed PV sys-tems. The cost factor also plays an important role, considering the fact that a price of €200

per kWh is expected in the next two years. Storage systems make up a great part of the contributions, too. The systems vary from AC to DC systems to combinable ones. The contri-butions refer to all-in-one-systems as well as to module-based systems, which all offer high sa-fety standards and efficiency. Features as auto-nomous load management and web-based mo-nitoring capabilities of back-up functions enable the user to increase their own consumption and guarantee an efficient energy management. Off-grid technology concepts were also submitted; among these were small facility so-lutions as well as innovative charge controllers for isolated applications and back-up systems designed for mini grids. Those back-up sys-tems are constructed to also work in combi-nation with small wind or diesel power plants. Grid integration of storage systems means great value for the consumer. Through the crea-tion of large-scale storage, excess energy can be saved and accumulated in the cache. The intelli-gent connection of family houses avoids a waste of energy and power. The surplus of power can be caught by the storage, stabilizing the grid. PV operators thus benefit in two ways: gaining free power and raising their own consumption.

And the winner is…

MARKETS


The AlphaESS Storion is a premium and user-friendly energy storage system, developed for Photovoltaic systems. It presents a safe and re-liable system which uses solar energy to pow-er loads directly, charge the battery and feed surplus into the grid. Via an integrated control system and adaptive logic the EMS controls and optimizes the flow of energy to realize a maximum PV self-consumption. It provides an

advanced load shifting and de-mand charge management and can supply the loads automati-cally when the grid fails (UPS). To achieve a “Smart Home”, the Alpha Cloud provides constant online monitoring, updates and services.

Aquion Energy's S-Line Battery Stacks are clean saltwater batteries that outperform and out-last traditional battery che-mistries. Based on Aquion’s proprietary Aqueous Hy-brid Ion (AHI™) technolo-gy, the batteries contain no heavy metals or toxic chemicals and are non-

flammable and non-explosive, making them the safest batteries in the world and ideal for use in pristine environments, island locations, homes, and businesses. The Aquion Energy S20 and S20-P are the first batteries to be Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Bronze, an esteemed quality mark recognized across industries to provide a continuous improvement pathway toward the development of sustainable products.

Source: AlphaESS

Source: Aquion Energy

The concept behind FENECON’s PRO Hybrid system, manufactured by BYD, is to find the perfect combination from on- and offgrid world. It comes with 3 x 3kW inverters and a 10 kWh LiFePO4-batte-ry, expandable up to 30 kWh. 2 chargers allow a

PV installation of 10 kWp DC-side, while another up to 40 kWp can be connected to the system on AC-side. Loads can be split into UPS-supplied (200ms) loads as well as non-UPS-loads. While the DC-PV-installation runs offgrid („battery- driven“), the inverters are running grid-parallel and supply the loads on each phase exactly. So it is possible to run the installation without fee-ding into the grid.

Source: FENECON

The KOSTAL PIKO BA System Li is based on innovative lithium-ion technology and can be adapted to the individual needs of households. Especially due to KOSTAL's own PIKO Battery Li Switch Box, which protects the storage sys-tem against overvoltage, among other things, but of course also thanks to high quality com-ponents, the PIKO BA System Li from KOSTAL completely meets these high demands. This quality-offensive thinking is deeply anchored in the zero defects philosophy, which KOSTAL has adopted from its history as an automotive

supplier. The PIKO BA System Li consists of the battery inverter (PIKO BA), the battery unit (PIKO Battery Li) and the obligatory current sensor (PIKO BA Sensor). This all-in-one complete system has no hidden costs and can thus be calculated at a glance.

Source: KOSTAL

Check out the products nominated for the ees AWARD

Deutsche Energieversorgung GmbH has launched its battery storage system SENEC.IES, which from now on provides power of the balancing energy market to their owners. In the framework of the pioneer project Econ-amic Grid, the storage systems are merged to a virtual large-scale storage. Each of them thus benefits from an extra annual grid power of 800 kWh as well as free converted heat ener-gy. The core element oft he Econamic Grid is a software especially designed fort he balancing

energy market as well as a 15 minutes period load profile meter which is connected in parallel with the house elec-tricity meter. A cen-tralized data server allows Deutsche Energieversorgung the coordination of power distribution to all SENEC storage systems.

Source: Deutsche Energiever-sorgung GmbH


The Sonnenbatterie eco is an intelligent, cost-efficient, grid friendly lithium storage system for residential and commercial use. It maximi-zes self-consumption of solar power, activating

automatically electri-cal appliances such as washing machines. Through its anticipa-tory charging beha-vior it is able to store solar power peaks

and thus acts grid-friendly. With 10,000 charge cycles the new Sonnenbatterie eco creates the base for future applications of energy storage such as participation in the energy markets on virtual power plants or the merging of electri-city and heat generation with PV systems and micro-CHP. Due to its long life expectancy and its numerous interfaces the Sonnenbatterie eco covers such requirements already today, making it fit for the future.

With MyReserve, SOLARWATT has developed the new generation of economical battery sto-rage systems. The RRP gross end consumer price for the 4.4 kWh system is EUR 5,499 and there-fore clearly less than comparable storage sys-tems. In contrast to other systems, MyReserve is connected directly to the current circuit between the PV modules and PV inverter. Due to the fact that the system is optimally coordinated with DC technology it has much lower conversion losses. With interim storage in the battery, MyReserve

can achieve a very high level of efficiency of up to 93 per cent over the entire charging and di-scharging cycle (round trip). This means the user has access to even more of the solar power generated. The high energy density of the lithium-ion batteries and the lightweight materials allow a compact construction, which is also reflected in the low to-tal weight of the battery.

Samsung SDI's 3.6kWh All-in-One, is a Home ESS(Energy Storage System) which features 3 functions including PV inverter, battery inver-

ter and lithium Ion battery in one enclosure. As a DC system, the All-in-One is highly efficient in conver-ting solar energy into elec-trical energy. It is compact in size and,.with its Wea-ring Stylish design, it is

better suited to be placed in living rooms and kitchens, as well as warehouses. The most es-sential part of all is that Samsung SDI's All-in-One is made by a reliable company specializing in lithium Ion batteries. The battery applied to the All-in-One, is the same used in Global Top-tier EV cars and worldwide power grid networks, which has proved to be No.1 in the mar-ket. There has not been a single recall and the battery cell cycle is currently the highest-perfor-ming with as much as 6,000 cycles.

Morningstar's TriStar MPPT 600V Controller with DC Transfer Switch is a one-box soluti-on that uses proprietary technology to enable backup power for grid tied PV systems through a DC coupled approach. The integrated Trans-fer Switch is a 30A; double-pole; double-throw; 600V switch. It disconnects a PV array or sub-array from the string inverter and connects the array to the controller, which has a highly ef-ficient power path for charging batteries with higher voltage PV arrays for nominal battery

voltages from 24V to 60V. It's compatible with grid-tied and stand-alone inverter/chargers. Additionally it allows for array backup oversizing for full power on cloudy days and limited charging current for smaller batte-ry banks. It’s compatible with any array or sub-array up to 30A and 600V and compatible with any grid-tied inverter that is compatib-le with PV disconnects.

Source: Morningstar Corporation

Source: Samsung

Source: SOLAR-WATT

Source: Sonnenbatterie

Maxwell’s DuraBlueTM Advanced Shock and Vibration Technology is the new innovation in ultracapacitor technology, which combines Maxwell’s unique patented dry electrode formu-lation and manufacturing process with a robust proprietary cell structure. The most demanding

shock and vibration requirements are met for the trans-portation markets and all applications where ultracapaci-

tors are used in rugged environments. It is used usually in combination with battery to improve system characteristics and benefits. Maxwell's late ultracapacitor integrating DuraBlue techno-logy expands the power range by 17% and the energy range by 23% offering increased custo-mer benefits. This makes it the most powerful ultracapacitor now on the market. Integrating Maxwell’s ultracapacitors, Freqcon's Microgrid Stabilizer addresses the electricity intermitten-cy challenges that accompany high renewable energy penetration. Source: Maxwell

» ees goes North America The burgeoning US-market for energy storage systems, driven by a continuous expansion of the wind and solar PV markets, is building up huge momen-tum and experts of IHS are predicting that 700 MW of PV systems with energy storage will be installed by 2018, com-pared to only 30 MW last year – which means a phenomenal increase.

According to Navigant Research, the leading market for storage (excluding pumped storage) is North America, followed by Western Europa and Asia Pacific. While the Asia Pacific market is dominated by sodium sulfur batteries, North America remains the most technologically di-verse region in the world with more than 15 different technologies, as for example zinc-air batteries, metal-air batteries, and sodium –ion batteries. The reason for the diversity of this market, which is clearly driven by innovation, is a strong focus on innovative future techno-logies and innovation encouraging policies and funding schemes, such as the United Sta-tes’ so-called ARPA-E-program. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sec-

tor investment. ARPA-E empowers America's energy researchers with funding, technical as-sistance, and market readiness.

A market driven by innovation

But advances in energy storage are not the only market drivers. Companies with software and control systems for energy storage know-how, such as Greensmith Energy, Ampard or GELI, also stimulate the market development. Mo-reover, the implementation of energy storage optimizes an existing system, be it bulk storage, private or commercial building applications, grid architecture or mobility applications.

Whether the leading position of the North American market can be transferred to become a sound and long-term industry strategy, due to appropriate innovation policies, remains to be seen.

California – home to the Intersolar North Ameri-ca for the eighth time this year– is at the epicen-ter of energy storage innovation and progressive policies, e.g. with its aggressive storage incen-tive plan Assembly Bill 2514. The state’s ambi-tious storage procurement targets require 1,325

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MW of storage to be connected to the grid by 2020, with installations completed by 2024.

States on the east coast are also coming out with storage incentives to support renewables adoption. New York has budgeted $25 million to promote storage development. Moreover, PJM, a utility that serves Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, has adopted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s new rules governing storage solutions.

ees goes North America

In 2015, Europe's largest energy storage event and the world's leading industry platform for storage devices used in combination with PV, will debut in San Francisco along with Intersolar North America. ees™ will cover the entire value chain of innovative battery and energy storage technologies. It is the ideal platform for all sta-keholders in the rapidly growing energy storage market. 500 exhibitors, including 50 storage companies, and more than 18,000 visitors are expected to meet in San Francisco. The 2015 conference and expo program contains more than 80 conference sessions, technical trai-nings, installation workshops and special events - with energy storage playing a vital role.

Key players, such as S&C Electric Company, EA-TON, Energy Power Systems, Dynapower, or UL

will showcase new products and technologies and cover the entire value chain of innovative battery and energy storage technologies – from components and production to specific user ap-plications.

Supporters of the ees ™ North AmericaNAATBatt International, a not-for-profit trade association of companies, associations and research institutions commercializing ad-vanced electrochemical energy storage techno-logy for emerging, high-tech applications.

Furthermore the ees™ North America special exhibition is supported by Intersolar's co-orga-nizers SEMI as well the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) and the New York Battery and Energy Storage Consortium (NY-BEST). «


California's ambitious storage procurement targets require 1,325

MW of storage

SAVE THE DATEEnergy Storage highlighted in India!

1,325 MW of storage to be connected to the grid by

2020

Source: © Serge Maksimov | fotolia.com

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MONDAYJULY 13, 2015

TUESDAYJULY 14, 2015

WEDNESDAYJULY 15, 2015

THURSDAYJULY 16, 2015

09:00 am – 10:30 am InterContinental Hotel Level 3

Energy Storage: Policies & Market Prospects

10:00 am – 01:15 pm Moscone West Level 3, Room 3010

NAATBatt Storage Workshop: Battery Safety

09:00 am – 06:00 pm InterContinental Hotel Level 3

Workshop: Grid-Connected Battery-Based PV System Design

10:30 am – 03:00 pm

ees Stage

11:00 am – 12:30 pm InterContinental Hotel Level 3

Energy Storage: Tech-nology - Challenges and Advancements

10:30 am – 05:00 pm Moscone West Level 2, Alcove 2

ees Stage

10:30 am – 05:00 pm Moscone West, Level 2, Alcove 2

ees Stage

01:30 pm – 03:00 pm InterContinental Hotel Level 3

Energy Storage: Residential and Com-mercial Applications

01:45 pm – 05:00 pm Moscone West Level 3, Room 3010

NAATBatt Storage Workshop: Policy Roundtable


Growth Company Forum: Storage Edition


Energy Storage: Utili-ty Scale Applications

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 4DAY 3

Conference program Workshop ees Stage

Source: 360|Concept

LIST OF ENERGY STORAGE EXHIBITORS AT INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA (AS OF MAY 2015) ABB Inc. | Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. | Affordable Solar Group LLC | Aquion Energy, Inc. | BMZ-USA, Inc. | Bosch Energy Storage Solutions LLC | Bosch Energy Storage Solutions LLC | Calb USA Inc. | CyboSoft/ CyboEnergy | DC Sys-tems, Inc. | Delta Products Corporation | Dynapower Company LLC | Eaton | Electrical Consultants, Inc. | Energy Power Systems | EnerSys | Engion by VARTA Storage GmbH | Enphase Energy, Inc. | Fluke Corporation | Fullriver Battery USA | GELI (Growing Energy Labs Inc.) | GEXPRO | GILDEMEISTER energy Solutions | GNB Industrial Power, a Division of Exide Technologies | Greensmith Energy Storage Managment Systems | Gridtential Energy, Inc. | GS Battery (USA) Inc. | Hangz-hou Sunny Energy Science and Technology Co., Ltd. | HBL Batteries | IBEW-NECA LMCC | Ideal Power Inc. | JuiceBox Energy | Maui Pacific Solar | MidNite Solar Inc. | MK Battery | Morningstar Corporation | MRI Global - SolarTAC - Solar Technology Acceleration Center | Multi-Contact USA | NAATBatt (National Alliance for Advanced Technology Batteries) | New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium | Nidec ASI S.p.A. | Outback Power | Parker Hannifin - Energy Grid Tie Division | Princeton Power Systems, Inc. | S&C Electric Company | Shenzen Sinopoly Battery Limited | Solar Industry Magazine | Solar Promotion International GmbH | SolarEdge Technologies Inc. | Sonnenbatterie GmbH | Steca Elektronik GmbH | Stone Edge Farm MicroGrid Project | Surrette Battery Company Ltd. | TMEIC Corporation | UL, LLC | Whitham Group Renewable Energy Cleantech Search

» Energy Storage: Can the UK Unlock its Potential?

In 2012 George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, stated that “the UK must take a global lead in developing low carbon technologies, including electricity storage”. However, three ye-ars later, the UK is still lagging behind many other countries in its adoption of modern energy storage. Four large-scale pumped hydroelectricity storage stations in North Wales and Scotland dominate the UK’s storage sector by collectively providing around 3,000 MW of storage capability whilst at the smaller scale, a number of batteries have been installed in a variety of sizes but their cumulative total is believed to be under 20 MW.

There is increasing demand for energy storage in the UK for the following two reasons:

Network upgrades – as a result of the low-carbon transition, electricity demand is expec-ted to increase in the UK. This will lead to a gro-wing requirement for investment and upgrade

of the UK’s electricity networks which must be designed to meet peak capacity demands, even if such peak demand only ever occurs for a very shortperiod of time, if at all. Such reinforce-ment is provided through the addition of new cable circuits with higher capacity and larger transformers.

Renewable energy generation – there is an increasing amount of renewable electricity generation in the UK which is more intermit-tent and unpredictable than conventional ba-seload generation. This makes it more difficult to balance the generation and consumption of electricity by the transmission operator, Natio-nal Grid. It also means that sudden losses of a generating plant, for example, an unexpected failure of a power station, are more difficult to compensate for without the use of reliable, re-serve generating plants, which are often high-carbon and costly to run. Energy storage can overcome both of these challenges by providing an alternative way to increase distribution net-work capacity and improve asset utilisation by reducing the amount that needs to be supplied to it. This has the result of reducing the peak

By Jonathan CohenEversheds LLP

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High technology costs especially at the smaller battery scale are the main obstacle

Regulatory uncertainty surrounding the treat-ment of storage

demand that the cables and transformers need to supply by using the storage to absorb energy at low-demand times and injecting it back into the grid at peak times. This also means that re-inforcement of the network can be deferred or potentially even avoided entirely.

In addition, energy storage has the following benefits, it:

» ensures that power networks are more resilient, efficient and cleaner;

» may stabilise market prices for electricity due to better management of distribution networks, reducing associated costs and improving efficiency;

» is very flexible, immediately dispatchable and has no emissions;

» increases security of UK energy supply; and

» will create jobs in the manufacturing, ins-tallation and maintenance of storage assets and energy storage will have a large role to play in the UK’s ‘green economy’.

What are the challenges?

There are currently a number of challenges fa-cing the development of energy storage in the UK and some of these challenges are set out below.

Regulatory

Unlike in the gas sector, where storage is defi-ned as a distinct activity, electricity storage is not explicitly recognised as a discrete activity within the UK or EU legal frameworks. In the absence of an alternative option, storage is tre-ated as a type of generation asset. This means that storage is governed by the relevant genera-tion licence rules contained in the Electricity Act 1989 and in the Electricity (Class Exemptions from the Requirement for a Licence) Order 2001 namely that a class exemption from the require-ment for licensing exists for ‘small generators’. This means that storage projects with output below 50 MW are exempted from the need to hold a generation licence.

However, the above pieces of legislation were not drafted with storage in mind. For examp-le, does storage actually generate electricity? It could be argued that electricity storage tech-nologies do not actually generate electricity but rather import electricity for subsequent export. Secondly, ‘declared net capacity’ is the term used to quantify the amount of genera-tion in the above pieces of legislation and this is linked to production at ‘the main alternator terminals’. An alternator converts mechanical

energy into electrical energy but an alternator is not necessarily a feature of electricity storage technologies such as batteries. This means that the definition needs to be revised to reflect the equivalent interface on a battery storage system.This leads to regulatory uncertainty surrounding the treatment of storage within the UK’s ener-gy regulatory framework and such uncertainty may make a storage project not bankable from a funder’s perspective. Possible solutions inclu-de making storage a separate licensed activity or clear guidance that storage is not a subset of generation but rather an unlicensed activity such as demand side participation.

Finally, it is worth noting that storage technolo-gies failed to be significantly represented in the first auction of the UK’s Capacity Market that occurred in December 2014. The Capacity Mar-ket was designed to ensure security of electri-city supply by providing a payment for reliable sources of capacity, alongside their electricity revenues, to ensure they deliver energy when required by the system operator. The Capacity Market is designed to encourage the investment needed to replace older power stations and provide backup for more intermittent and infle-xible low carbon generation sources and to sup-port the development of more active demand management in the UK’s electricity market. However, there were only 13 storage projects successfully bidding in the first auction which represented just 5.5% of the capacity awarded. Whilst the intention is for storage to participa-te in the Capacity Market on an equal footing with other sources of capacity, for example, the auction is to be held one year ahead of delivery and is specifically intended for storage, along-side demand side participation. However, the 2 MW de-minimis size thresholds may exclude some smaller capacity projects from direct par-ticipation.

Economic

The second major obstacle facing storage in the UK is the economic viability of storage projects. In general, the high technology costs especially at the smaller battery scale are the main obstac-le. The combination of lower electricity prices and high feed-in tariffs make, at least in terms of economics, the use of smaller scale storage unviable at the present time. This may change where the feed-in tariffs expire or are reduced, while prices for household electricity rise.

It is the pricing mechanisms which will earn a suitable return for investors. While principally storage can make revenue from price arbitrage opportunities – charging batteries at off-peak times when the prices are low and dischar-ging during peak times when energy prices are high – the arbitrage revenues alone may not be sufficient for achieving desired breakeven


periods, especially given the current costs and uncertainty of rules and regulations governing storage (see the Regulatory section above). The slow take up of electricity storage in the UK can therefore be attributed to concerns surrounding the certainty of revenue streams and the balan-ce between the costs, revenues and lifecycle of a project.

In other jurisdictions, incentives have been in-troduced, such as reducing the initial costs or improving the income stream. For example, Germany introduced a capital subsidy in May 2013 for 30% of the cost of storage associated with solar PV, and in the US batteries will quali-fy for the Investment Tax Credit, and there has been a state mandate introduced in California in October 2013 for utilities to procure 1,325 MW of storage by 2020. A recent report by the UK’s industry body, the Energy Storage Network, called for the Government to impose a target of 2 GW of new electricity storage by 2020, claiming it will provide a vital stepping stone towards the widespread adoption of renewable energies. It is clear that whilst business models for energy storage are still developing and yet to be proven, the future of the technology will depend upon the appropriate policy level push.

There are a number of potential incentives for small-scale storage that could be introduced by the UK Government within existing fiscal and policy frameworks:

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) – under the energy efficiency requirement for solar PV plants with a total installed capacity of up to 250kW, if the building that the solar PV system is serving has an EPC level D or more, the owner of the system would be entitled to receive a higher feed-in tariff rate. Could a simi-lar incentive be introduced to improve the EPC of a home by having storage?

Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) – the introduction of a higher level of FiTs, if storage was present, may incentivise the installation of battery assets.

Smart metering and the interaction with energy storage – in the UK the smart meter rollout is expected by 2020. This will allow time-of-use tariffs whereby storage could be utilised when peak demand tariffs are in place. Howe-ver, delays are currently expected to the smart meter rollout so the time-of- use tariffs may not be implemented till after storage has been ins-talled.

Policy/strategic

As set out in the above section, it is clear that the challenge now facing the UK’s energy sto-rage sector is to bring about a commercial

framework for its widescale deployment. There are increasing calls for the Government to initi-ate a programme of investment and/or subsidy and government policy will have a strong influ-ence on the economics of storage technologies throughout the commercialisation process.

The economic case for storage is connected to policy decisions at the following levels:

» research and development budgets;

» specific support measures such as targeted feed-in tariffs, supplier obligations or other subsidies for commercialisation;

» the market frameworks, for example, capa-city markets, short-term operating reserve balancing mechanisms and carbon pricing; and

» the wider renewable energy policy for which storage is expected to play an incre-ased role.

The chosen policy will determine what the mar-ket design arrangements will look like through which the storage technologies will ultimately gain their income. This in turn will mean suita-ble business models for energy storage need to be developed in a competitive market. Gi-ven that there are a wide number of storage technologies available in the marketplace, the-se models may be quite diverse. As the storage market has the potential to evolve rapidly, these new business models will likely involve a wide number of stakeholders including electricity generators, developers, policymakers, transmis-sion and distribution network operators, equip-ment suppliers and consumers. This means that policymakers need to strike a fine balance bet-ween being responsive to such developments whilst aiming for stability in the wider policy framework.

Conclusions

There is huge potential for the development of energy storage in the UK with Greg Barker, the former Climate Change Minister, describing energy storage as “a potential silver bullet”. However, cost is currently the main barrier with regulatory issues still to be overcome. The UK Government needs to set out a strategic road-map which gives detailed consideration to the potential role of energy storage including a com-prehensive analysis of technology requirements, coordinated R&D programmes, industry/supply chain needs and regulatory/policy issues. «

Jonathan Cohen Eversheds LLP

Government to impose a target of 2 GW of new

electricity storage by 2020

By James J. Greenberger NAATBatt International

By Angeline Rast ees International

» U.S. storage market: Visions of the future

As described by NAATBatt Internatio-nal, one of the main challenges of our times is solving the problem of how to store more electricity in a small mass. Progresses in this area impact many of today’s and tomorrow’s technologies in-cluding the smart grid, consumer elec-tronics, vehicle technology and many more and therewith make a huge con-tribution to shaping the human society.

The North American non-profit trade associati-on NAATBatt International supports companies, associations and research institutions dealing with advanced electrochemical energy storage technology for emerging, high tech applica-tions. NAATBatt’s mission is to promote the use, development and commercialization of advan-ced electrochemical energy storage technology in the United States and around the world. The latest Energy Infrastructure Update report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission re-vealed the new electricity generation assets by fuel type, installed in the United States in 2014.

Natural gas accounted for almost half (7,485 MW) of the 15,384 MW from new generation units, which were installed across the country last year. With 4,080 MW from wind energy and 3,139 MW from solar energy, renewable electricity generation accounted for 46.9% of the total new installations in the United States.

James J. Greenberger, Executive Director of NAATBatt International, sees these numbers as an indication for the imminent breakthrough of electricity storage, affected by climbing gas prices and long-term energy policy predictabili-ty brought by the Congress. The prospect that variable generation assets will be installed in sufficient quantities to make the need for large-scale electricity storage an impending issue for the United States is on its best way to become reality.

In an exclusive interview with ees International, James J. Greenberger is drawing a picture of the past, present and future of the energy storage market in the United States and related oppor-tunities and challenges.

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James co-founded NAATBatt International, a trade association of advanced battery manufac-turers and their supply chain partners, in 2008 as part of an effort to promote the manufactu-ring of large format lithium-ion batteries in the United States.

ees: How has the U.S. storage market de-veloped in the past few years and how has NAATBatt International promoted the commercial interests of its members?

Electricity storage has been a feature of the U.S. electricity grid for several decades. 101 hy-dro-storage systems currently operate in North America. The real change over the past few ye-ars has been the growth of storage out at the “tips” of the grid, at sub-stations and on distri-bution systems. This growth has been fueled by two factors: the growing interest in and deploy-ment of variable renewable electricity generati-on and the revolution in electrochemical energy storage technology. NAATBatt International helps its members gain greater visibility into the rapidly evolving market for energy storage and electrochemical energy storage technology. We provide our members with strategic market in-telligence and the opportunity to network with the movers and shakers in the industry.

ees: What kind of challenges is the US sto-rage industry facing at the moment?

Storage is not a product, it is a tool. It does cer-tain things that are helpful to the grid. But other technologies do things that are also helpful to the grid, and some of those things are the same things that storage does. For example, diesel generators and gas micro-turbines can provide back-up power for a customer. So one of the challenges for storage is that the current pri-ces of petroleum and natural gas are low, thus making some of those competing technologies very attractive. A second major challenge for storage in the U.S. is a regulatory one. There are literally thousands of different electricity ju-risdictions in the United States with the power to make rules, set prices and impose regulation on storage projects within their jurisdiction. As a result, a lot of storage development is being done on a 'one-off' basis. A single storage pro-ject in one jurisdiction cannot simply be dupli-cated in another because of different price and regulatory considerations. Each project must be custom-designed. This is an expensive way to roll out a new technology.

ees: In your opinion, what are the most promising technologies in the storage mar-ket at present and how are they transfor-ming the market?

There are a lot of very interesting new electro-chemical energy storage technologies coming

on to the storage market. New battery chemis-tries, new battery designs (such as flow bat-teries), and non-battery storage technologies (such as flywheels and capacitors) may one day prove quite disruptive to the market. But new power technologies take decades to find mar-ket acceptance after their technological efficacy has been proven. One of the reasons why you are seeing a dramatic growth in distributed sto-rage today is that the market is finally getting comfortable with the practice of putting large lithium-ion batteries on the grid. Keep in mind that lithium-ion batteries have been known to be effective and have been used in commerce since 1991. That is almost 25 years. We need to keep this reality in mind as we predict the im-pact of new storage technologies on the mar-ketplace.

ees: Now that the costs for solar PV and electricity storage have been falling, thus making the combination increasingly at-tractive to solar PV owners, which are the driving forces, from a political point of view, that are needed to accompany the future development of the sectors?

Keeping the public educated about and interes-ted in the benefits of renewable energy is key. So much of what has driven the growth of solar PV in the last few years, and what will drive the growth of solar-storage in the years ahead, has been the desire of many individuals to do their part in the battle against climate change. This desire, which includes an element of near-term sacrifice, has been the driver of a large number of the policies and incentives that have made PV solar the rapidly growing industry it is today.

ees: The Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), one of the most important federal policy mechanisms under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, strives to support the deployment of solar energy in the United States with a 30 percent tax credit for solar systems on re-sidential and commercial properties that, under current law, remains in effect until December 31, 2016. Has the program met the initial expectations? What has been its significance for the PV and storage market so far and, in your opinion, how will the markets develop after the discontinuation of the program in 2016?

The ITC, together with the production tax cre-dit (PTC) for wind, have been two of the most successful uses of tax policy to commercialize new technology in the history of the Internal Revenue Code. Twenty years ago both solar PV and wind energy were nascent technologies, the playthings of hobbyists and movie stars. Today both of these technologies are sophisticated, economical, and market-ready technologies that are well on their way to becoming important

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parts of the U.S. electricity grid. It is easy and distressingly common to identify poor govern-ment policies. But in the case of the ITC and the PTC, we should all pat ourselves on the back.

ees: What are the consequences of the new Executive Order, announced by President Barack Obama on March 19, 2015, on both the U.S. federal and private sector market?

The U.S. government is one of the primary con-sumers of energy in the United States. President Obama’s executive order, which directs federal agencies to increase their purchases of clean and efficient energy technologies, will help create a significant new market for those tech-nologies in the United States. How this will play out exactly is still hard to see. But the idea of using government purchasing to jumpstart the market for new energy technologies is a very good one.

ees: What will be the key technologies and application fields in the energy storage sector of the future and how will they in-fluence grid stability?

I believe that the U.S. electricity grid is destined to evolve into a series of redundant networks that will rely in significant part on distributed renewable generation and require electricity storage balance and stabilize those networks. Electricity storage, particularly that deployed on distribution systems, out at the “tips” of the grid, will be an important and significant part of the future electricity grid.

ees: In a recent article, you discussed the ‘coolness factor’ of home batteries, stating that they will play a great role in the fu-ture development of the sector as econo-mic considerations alone could not justify success even in times of falling costs of lithium-ion batteries. So, in your opinion, what will the home battery sector look like in 2030?

By 2030 we will be living in the world of the 'internet of everything'. Today is about net-working information. Tomorrow will be about networking things. Many of those things will

require portable, long-term power, which is why advanced battery technology is so exciting. But those networked things will also require a network hub. For individuals, I suspect, that hub will be in the home. And I suspect that a central, indispensable component of that hub will be the battery that backs it up and to some extent powers it. I think this battery hub is what Elon Musk is thinking about in launching Tesla’s new home battery. I suspect that Elon is right. But I am not sure if he is too early. «

ees: Thank you for the interview.

Angeline Rast ees International

Source: © ayutaroupapa | fotolia.com

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Know how a battery is performing

Predict failure or end-of-life

Get in touch for a FREE trial by quoting “PH-EES” at:

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*Exhibiting at InterSolar EU*

» Using a Levelized Cost of Storage

By Ken-Ichi Hino Enovation Partners, LLC

Across North America, decision makers in the electricity sector read the news of Tesla’s “Powerwall” unsure whether they were witnessing a revolution or simply hype for another toy for the rich. Skeptics can point to the long history of earlier false starts for energy storage. But distributed energy resource (DER) advocates can point to the Tesla an-nouncement as the latest of many pie-ces of good news supporting the adop-tion of storage – from New York State’s 2014 “Reforming the Energy Vision” regulatory initiative, to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s att-empts (through several recent orders) to enable “fairer” terms for storage’s participation in wholesale markets, to state-level mandates and solicitations for storage such as California’s Assem-bly Bill 2514 of 2010.

Still, uncertainty is understandable. The recent history of photovoltaic (PV) solar’s impressive

growth shows how the interaction among pu-blic policy (subsidies, market participation rules, mandates), rates of cost improvements from scale, utility and customer education, financial innovation, and the vagaries of consumer be-havior is complex and unpredictable. In many ways, the prospects for energy storage are even more challenging to ascertain than PV. Even compared to competing PV technologies, ener-gy storage covers a greater range of technolo-gy – chemical, electronic, and mechanical – as well as a greater range of technical maturity. And, since many of these technologies are at different stages of commercialization, obtaining reliable and comparable cost and performance data is extremely challenging.

In addition, storage addresses a broad range of engineering and commercial challenges. For ex-ample, the California Public Utilities Commissi-on (CPUC) has defined some 31 energy storage use cases, categorized into three classes: trans-mission-connected, distribution level, and de-mand side resources. These applications include T&D upgrade deferrals, participation in

By Daniel Gabaldon Enovation Partners, LLC

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Segment Use Case Example Illustra�ve Subs�tutes

WholesaleMerchant APEX CAES project

• CCGT• Pumped storage• Transmission

Frequency regula�on AES PJM project • CT (Aero)• Out of merit order Central Sta�on

Renewable PV (ramping support) AES SCE project • CT (Aero)• Grid

WiresT&D Support AEP • Line upgrades

• CT/ICE

Substa�on support ConEd • Substa�on• CT/ICE

Retail

Industrial/MicrogridConEdBrooklyn/Queens microgrid project

• ICE• CT• Grid

Commercial*Green Charge Network – demand management

• ICE• CT• Fuel cell• Grid

Residen�al SolarCity –residen�al backup

• Ice• Fuel cell• Grid

fig. 1 | Source: Enovation partners | *includes industrial segment demand charge managament

frequency regulation markets, load shifting, and customer demand charge management. For each storage use, the technology must meet different price and performance requirements in order to reach parity with alternatives (such as new utility investment in generation, delivery, or demand management programs).

Given the complexity, the goal for decision ma-kers – utilities, manufacturers, regulators, and users – should be to establish clarity and simpli-city around the terminology. Just as the energy industry moved to adopt a “levelized cost of energy” in order to deal with the relative cost of PV several years ago, the energy industry and its storage stakeholders need a common, trans-parent framework for assessing costs and per-formance – a levelized cost of storage (LCOS).

Apples to Apples

In the United States, the Electric Power Re-search Institute (EPRI) and the CPUC have deve-loped and continue to refine powerful analytical tools to assist decision makers in understanding the likely cost and performance implications of different storage technologies for a growing number of these use cases. However, these tools require a significant level of technical so-phistication and case-specific details to produce meaningful results. As a first step, it is useful to make the list of use cases more manageable (fig.1). And to make apples-to-apples compari-sons about the relative attractiveness of storage alternatives in each of these, there must be a se-ries of critical parameters that define a use case, including size (MW), discharge duration (hours), cycles per year, depth of discharge (%), required equipment life

For example, the number and frequency of cy-cles performed are critical but often ignored in simplistic comparisons of the $/KW or $/KWh cost of different storage technologies. Consider storage for time-shifting energy and storage for frequency regulation. In this case, time-shifting requires one cycle per day, charging during off-peak hours and discharging during peak hours. The frequency regulation use case requires as-sets to provide more than two cycles per hour. Over a 15-year project life, a lithium-based sto-rage system may require one or two battery pack replacements due to the number of cycles per year, while a flow battery may not require any replacement. The flow battery also may be able to reach deeper depths of discharge than lithium, meaning that for every MW of installed power and every cycle of the battery, the flow battery could deliver more energy to the grid. Depending on their magnitude, these perfor-mance differences may mean that the operati-onal savings with flow batteries justify higher installation costs. In this case, the LCOS for the flow battery would be lower than for lithium, despite the fact that lithium may well offer a lower $/KW first cost and a lower $/KWh for other use cases.

The approach to use cases embodied in this simplified LCOS methodology could have draw-backs. Some may argue that reducing the detail and range of storage use cases could serve to place particular energy storage technologies at an unfair disadvantage. Or that the combinati-on of intelligent system design and operating software can lead to a wide range of different cost and performance levels for a particular battery and inverter technology choice, making

"Apples to Apples" com-parisous need a series of critical parameters that define a use case


Source: Enovation partners

Washington:• $14M in matching grants for

storage• $15M solicita�on

Ontario: • Independent

Electricity System Operator: 35 MW

Hawaii: • HECO RFO for

60-200 MW• KIUC—Storage RFP

Guam: • GPA – Feasibility

study for 40 MW

Source: State energy department websites, EP analysis

rizona: APS/Residen�al U�lity Consumer Officer se�led10% of simple cycle GT capacity as storage10 MWh RFP by 2018

Texas: • Approval for Oncor: $5.2B

investment in distribu�on connected storage • Aus�n Energy: 10-200 MW by

2025• Fast frequency regula�on

product coming?

ew Jersey: • $3M solicita�on• Incen�ves for behind the meter storage• Funding from Energy Resilience Bank

PREPA: 45% renewable capacity for 1 minute; 30% renewable capacity in frequency control

Puerto Rico:

New York: • $2100/kW incen�ve• LIPA: 150 MW RFO• ConEd: 100 MW ($2.6/w thermal;

$2.1/w ba�ery)• PSC suppor�ng DER integra�on

California:• Assembly Bill 2514: 1.3 GW by 2020

by IOUs– SCE awarded 250 MW– PG&E seeks 74 MW– SDG&E seeks 25-80 MW

• Imperial Irriga�on District seeks 20-40 MW

• Self-Genera�on Incen�ve Program for customer sited DG

• CA ISO Storage Roadmap

Vermont• 4 MW solicita�on by

VPS

Recent Energy Storage Programs in United States & Canada

Oregon:• Exploring storage demonstra�on

Massachuse�s: • Funding for microgrid and

residen�al storage demonstra�ons

a single cost estimate for a given technology and use case unrealistically precise. Or that a user may well be willing to sacrifice some per-centage of one of the parameters (say, number of cycles per year) in return for improving ano-ther (say, depth of discharge), and the basic LCOS approach sketched here fails to illuminate such trade-offs. Or, perhaps most seriously, that real-world appraisal of storage applications re-quires evaluating “stacked” use cases, where the economic value of a whole set of use case benefits are combined.

But the benefits of a simple, standardized LCOS outweigh its limitations. Most significant, it enables the consistent and transparent compa-rison of alternative storage and conventional re-sources for a given, well-defined use case. And it permits straightforward sensitivity analysis of several of the key parameters decision makers care about when it comes to considering sto-rage:

How significant is the impact of differences in capital costs on the relative attractiveness of different storage technologies?

How much would storage costs have to fall for storage-enabled time shifting (say, to address the “duck curve” phenomenon) to be the better alternative than a gas-fired combustion turbine (CT)?

How much impact does round-trip efficiency improvement have on storage economics?

With an abundance of zero-marginal cost rene-wable energy during the day, how low would daytime energy prices for charging need to be to make storage the preferred choice?

If U.S. natural gas prices rose sharply, at what installation prices would storage be more eco-nomic than gas-fired CTs for a given use case?

In the absence of a shared lexicon for the uses and costs of storage, it may remain inordinately challenging for many affected but non-expert decision makers to understand whether storage represents a solution (or threat), in which use ca-ses, and if not yet then how soon. Many may fall back on using brand-name rather than more ob-jective criteria in making choices among storage technologies, or on the “herd like” decision-ma-king often associated with the industry. While this form of imperfect competition may reward certain storage players, it is as likely to retard needlessly the rate of storage innovation and adoption. A more broadly shared lexicon about the performance of storage for specific applica-tions could serve to accelerate innovation.

An imperfect but transparent methodology for cost comparison like LCOS may be a modest but important instance of standardization essential for the accelerated development of new tech-nology, allowing buyers and designers to focus their attention on the key performance attri-butes and cost drivers and create a bridge bet-ween technology advancement and customer adoption. «

By Daniel Gabaldon and Ken-Ichi Hino, Enovation Partners, LLC

Daniel Gabaldon is a founding director

and Ken-Ichi Hino is a manager at Enovati-on Partners, LLC, an advisory firm focused

on innovation and growth in the energy sector.

The benefits of a simple, standardized LCOS out-

weigh its limitations

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By Abid Kazim NextEnergy Capital

» Smart Storage for Solar Power

While storage is well understood as a tool to balance and enhance the effec-tiveness of electric grid networks, in reality, the emergence of solar is about the small not the large; about local solu-tions to maximise investment utility and not about a macro investment in grid.

Storage is overwhelmingly regarded as the mis-sing link in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable based energy supply sources. The benefits of energy storage in this context are well understood. Renewable energy generators fitted with storage capability can smooth out production imbalances, resulting in an increa-sed portion of base load power and therefore a more stable energy grid and lower imbalance costs associated with the same.

For example in Puerto Rico, regulations man-date that storage capability must be integrated into all new renewable energy generators to help regulate the grid’s frequency and stabilise it for sudden surges or drops in supply from re-newable energy sources. This position has me-

rits for island solutions but is less relevant for mature and major markets.

The case for storage in markets like the UK, Italy and Germany has to do with maximising invest-ment values. In markets like Germany, with a re-latively inflexible generation base, negative po-wer prices can hurt or even destroy investment values. Storage can help investors by releasing energy when prices are positive, even if margi-nally so. In the UK, underinvestment in the grid over many years means that storage has a key role in maximising plant output – which can be released over longer periods to maximise grid connection values. But these are local decisions that allow investors to maximise value on a case by case basis. And this is the crucial point. In-vestments based on macro factors effect and are effected by many actors. Sometimes there needs to be political and/or regulatory change and this is slow, difficult and sometimes fruit-less. As the joke goes, new governments make big promises and deliver little; what they try to deliver rarely succeeds; and what succeeds is normally overturned by the next government!

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Storage and Solar Energy

When it comes to solar power, storage has been mooted as a long-term opportunity to enable an increase in the share of solar power in the global energy mix. Currently, solar power makes up only a small portion of the total generating capacity of the EU, for example, with the ma-jority of renewable energy coming from wind sources instead.

This is not to say, however, that the use of sto-rage is not appropriate in the case of solar ins-tallations, but rather it is the case that the be-nefits of storage accrue at a local level to each single generator.

To make the point, let’s take two extreme ex-amples – the residential rooftop and the utility scale plant. A family’s decision to invest in solar has always been driven by supply company in-dependence and, for a short while, the value of government subsidies. Save money or make mo-ney. Localised storage would extend the “save money” proposition for the household – as in many cases it requires availability on demand to maximise solar value – mostly in the evenings.

Storage has no revenue enhancement case for a family. The utility scale case, on the other hand, has broader merits; both save money or make money. Save money by optimising grid utility – moving from 1.2/1.3:1 installed capacity to export compression to maybe 2:1 - and make money by the same measure as the investors meeting grid demands. In countries like Germa-ny and Italy, negative export prices are avoided and money is made by matching grid imbalan-ces. So, the decision to incorporate and manage energy storage, both in the case of utility scale solar and domestic installations, is just another

investment variable; in that the priorities will lie in maximising revenues and minimising costs.

Smart Storage

Furthermore, it is important to understand that a “smart” storage solution, or rather a storage system that is augmented through a series of ancillary or support services, is the key to op-timising the economic benefits of the solar ge-nerator + storage configuration. Ultimately, the decision to store energy or release energy will be most efficient if it is actively managed and informed by a set of current and relevant data points such as weather forecasts, power pricing, and grid conditions to name some examples.

Owners of solar plants have increasingly looked to asset managers to coordinate the decision-making process and value-added activities such as preventive maintenance and contract ma-nagement in order to maximise the operatio-nal and administrative efficiency of the plants. In the case of solar PV, storage is another tool in the asset manager’s toolbox to help increase revenues, spreading more income across lower capital costs, making for more efficient invest-ments. The following are some examples of how smart storage, as administered by a capa-ble asset manager, can enhance the economic position of individual utility scale solar power generators.

Revenue Enhancement

Wholesale prices of electricity are affected by supply and demand. Supply is in turn affected by a variety of factors such as the pricing of oil and gas and the availability of generation ca-pacity, while demand is affected by economic growth, consumer habits and most importantly

Storage can enhance the economic position of individual utility scale solar power generators


the weather. The analysis of weather forecasts to determine changes in power pricing is a well-established practice carried out by energy tra-ders who make use of a variety of services such as Nnergix, MeteoGroup or Met Office which provide weather forecasts with a high degree of accuracy. This predictive data could be inte-grated into the management strategy of a solar power plant by detecting the optimal times to store and then release energy into the grid. For example, if a dark cloudy day is expected then energy demand may increase as individuals turn on the lights at home, however, solar power production would suffer at the same time. Ha-ving the ability to release some stored energy in this scenario would mitigate this suboptimal operating scenario and provide an otherwise fo-regone revenue boost.

Another possible revenue enhancement strate-gy is to store energy during periods of high pro-duction and relatively lower power pricing, for example, at midday during a typical spring day in the UK. This energy could then be released between 5pm and 7pm, when production is lo-wer but energy prices rise as demand increases as consumers return home from work or school, prepare dinner and watch prime time television.

It is important to note two potential caveats to these examples. The first is that any revenue enhancement strategy can only be realised in conjunction with a suitable energy sale arran-gement or PPA. The asset manager will need to work with suppliers to choose from or help create products which will allow them to adopt these storage and trading tactics. The second point to consider is whether these strategies are likely to be able to persist in the long term as more storage capacity comes on board and more generators seek to arbitrage power pri-ces throughout the day or due to weather con-ditions. Only time will tell, but is it safe to say that imbalances between demand and supply are likely to continue in the energy sector over the long term? It is a big bet and logic would suggest that proliferation will create a capacity market that will smooth out grid imbalances, and as such remove the traded upsides that many business cases are based on. As such, major storage investments – such as pumped storage, with large capital budgets and a risk of stranded investments - should hedge-out long-term revenues to avoid a loss of long-term via-bility. As it is, we see pump storage facilities in Austria having been curtailed this year.

Capital Cost Efficiency

Taking the UK again as a case study for the next example, it is possible to achieve capital cost ef-ficiencies through an effective management of storage in solar installations. In the UK, securing a grid connection is a substantial component of

the total development costs of a utility scale so-lar installation. However, as with most markets, many grid connections are not optimised, as they are sized to meet the maximum production capable by the plant but such maximum pro-duction is only expected to occur for a relatively small portion of the operating cycle. In these environments, smart storage could create op-portunities which allow the developer to opti-mise the capacity of a grid connection by sizing the same, taking into account the combined capacity of peak power and storage capacity in-stalled in the plant. This holistic approach would then allow for a more efficient use of a grid con-nection, as energy could be stored in periods of peak production and released in times of lower production. Besides lowering capital costs and spreading these over a larger revenue base, this approach also has the benefit of the revenue enhancement approach described above as pe-riods of overproduction can often correspond to lower wholesale electricity pricing and vice versa.

Storage can also prove a useful tool in the in-creasingly common instance of constrained grid connections. These are grid connections which network operators may offer to a generator which are for a variable capacity or contain a “turn down” provision allowing the grid ope-rator to constrain or halt a generator’s ability to export energy to the grid. This is likely to be an increasing feature of national grids as rene-wables proliferate and in some cases as a com-petitive reaction of oligopolistic local energy companies. In these instances, the effects of a turn down may be mitigated by shifting energy export from the grid to the storage system, eli-minating or reducing the plant’s downtime and lost productivity.

As with revenue enhancement strategies, capi-tal cost efficiency saving measures are depen-dent on other variables which will affect their viability. For instance, any savings realised by optimising grid connection sizing need to be net of the combined costs of lowering the peak capacity of the plant and installing storage ca-pability. This will hinge on the cost of storage systems falling over the next few years, which is crucial for the uptake of storage solutions more broadly in the renewable energy sector. Finally, it is also important to ensure that the storage equipment itself is properly maintained and ma-naged by the asset manager. For example, the operating temperature of the battery as well as the charging and discharging process will need to be planned and optimised in order to extend the life of the battery as long as possible.

Conclusion

We have looked at the opportunities for sto-rage. But the renewable market, especially solar,

Major storage invest-ments should hedge-out

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term viability

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is the market, the world even, of the small. Sto-rage fits in with existing economic models and any attempt to restructure the market through new subsidies or regulations – even grid de/re-regulation will delay deployment and fail. The real measure will be how best to employ the investments. Obviously, an investor would want the right price point, but once that is achieved, will the operating model be able to optimise va-lue? Are the investor systems and team able to manage PPA’s, grid connections, interconnects, sharing fees or any other investment model, on a day in day out basis? We see that a dedicated team is required and the economic value of such a team is maximised by maximising scale and scope.

Scale is easy to understand, but the aggregation of scale to be meaningful either in trading out capacity or managing exports to meet revenue opportunities in a relationship of equals with the PPA providers/grid companies is difficult to achieve. Compared to say a nuclear plant, a so-lar park is tiny. Scope means the ability to learn from multiple plants and solutions and have the operating model to maintain skills, systems and contracts to meet the plants unique shape or needs. Compared to a CCGT operator, the shape of a wind investment is too volatile on its own

and needs the scale and scope to achieve any market power. This suits a specialist.

Asset managers come in different shapes: from the in-house office junior to highly professional IPPs on to specialist 3rd party market operators. As the storage market is developing, only the 3rd party specialist Asset Manager will be able to aggregate scale across investors. They must have the systems, the people and the mind-set to manage small packets of data, a few kWhs at a time to achieve the upside.

In conclusion, storage will be a turning point for the transition towards the renewable energy economy by stability and efficiency across dis-tribution networks and grids globally. However, in the short term, the benefits of incorporating storage into utility scale solar power plants will accrue to the generators by way of potential economic benefits. These are in turn realised through operational efficiencies and revenue optimisation strategies which can be integrated into the increasing portfolio of services provi-ded by asset managers. «

Abid Kazim is the UK Managing Director of NextEnergy Capital and member of the Investment Committee of the NextEnergy

Solar Fund listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Storage will be a turning point for the transition towards the renewable energy economy

Source: © weerapat1003 | fotolia.com

» Solar and storage systems: friend or foe to the grid?

With the rise of coupled solar and sto-rage systems, there are challenges that must be addressed, notably arguments claiming that solar generation is the cause of grid instability. A careful ex-amination of the current situation from different perspectives and proposition of viable solutions is necessary.

There are two main challenges today in the solar photovoltaic market: the first being the massive feeding of solar power, specifically the midday solar production peak, into the grid, and the second is managing the evening consumption peaks from the grid when the grid pressure as well as prices are at their highest.

Not only from a French perspective, but a uni-versal one, is the natural monopoly of the grid and complete power transportation infrastruc-ture a reality that the renewable energy industry must work with. As the renewable energy and storage boom continues, it is inevitable to take a second look at the current grid situation and arguments, from a different angle.

It is no surprise that many states have been stri-ving to cope with the initial solar feed-in boom, where the total solar production is fed into the grid. According to the grid companies, this practice clearly has exerted immense pressure on the ageing grid infrastructures and power lines. A logical deduction is: the higher the con-sumption, the higher the need to reinforce the electric lines. This argument against the solar in-dustry cannot be ignored and needs a thorough look at the topic. Can one work in isolation of the other, or can both industries integrate the technologies to create a homogeneous demo-cratized energy platform.

Adaptability of the grid to the new electric usagesPossession of indispensable electric objects such as the constantly emerging new tactile technologies, computers, air-conditioners, hea-ters, electric cars, etc. has rapidly increased in recent years in comparison to previous genera-tions. In our modern societies as well as in fast developing countries, rising living standards and

By Christophe Goasguen IMEON ENERGY

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urbanization are reaching unprecedented rates. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects a rise in European electricity consumption at an annual average rate of 1.4% up to 2030, with a share of renewables in Europe’s electricity ge-neration that will double from 13% now to 26% by 2030.

In the developing world, specifically African markets, urban growth during the last two de-cades has reached high rates of 3.5% per year and is expected to hold on into 2050, according to the African Development Bank. Facing the current rise in electricity consumption in deve-loped and developing nations alike, the grid is indeed experiencing strenuous demand pres-sures with concerns of unbalanced supply. We know for a fact that constant electricity supply is a prerequisite for economic development and advancement. Urbanization is not possible wit-hout electricity. With a critical look at the status quo, the grid does not seem to be adapted to handle the growing needs of our post-modern society. Taking the example of the rise of elec-tric cars which consume large amounts of elec-tricity, further hikes in consumption will further increase the pressure on the grid. The future is that the entire grid network must be revisited and the number of power plants increased. This high cost expenses would need to be incurred to keep up with the same fast rate as the deve-lopment of technologies and industries. What must be examined is whether there could be a way to develop the grid without the otherwise high costs of building new stations.

Mixing evolving technologies

Similar to the telecommunication revolution, previously set on copper lines, it has developed vastly to incorporate an elaborate mix of possi-ble solutions, firstly maintaining the operation of the old lines and further including satellite communication, mobile telephony (3G-4G) to the optical fiber. This mix has proven its success facing the evolving global consumption trends

in the telecom industry. As the telecom industry has upgraded and continues to evolve, it is just as important to develop the electricity network, taking into account renewable energy and sto-rage solutions is inevitable and important in this debate of energy transition.

Let’s take an example of a farmer in the French countryside, who invested in renovating his professional space by upgrading his machine-ry, consequently also increasing his electricity consumption. He needed 3/N/PE-230/400VAC connection to be safe. His only ‘fault’ is that he is located in an area at the end of the electricity line and therefore, he is subjected to frequent low voltages and systematic halt of some of his appliances. This is a small-scale example of grid congestions, voltage fluctuations, circuit overloads, burnt electricity lines, which, among other concerns, eventually causes black-outs or brown-outs.

Pertinent questions regarding the deployment, cost of maintenance, recreation, or expansion of a national grid level as well as building new electricity stations are related to these unanti-cipated voltage fluctuations at the end of the electricity lines outside of the urbanized clus-ters. That being said, electrification of isolated sites, both in the developed and developing world, is yet another challenge. In addition to the economic and geopolitical situation of certain countries where infrastructures are de-stroyed or dysfunctional, a grid-interactive du-rable alternative is the only way out. It is clear: the need to better understand and manage the integration of new power generation and storage technologies into the grid is more pres-sing than ever.

Embarking on the new Solar 2.0 revolution The foundation of a smart grid, which was defined by the European Commission in 2009 as an electricity network that can integrate in a

Telecommunication business as an example for integrating different technologies

Electrification of isola-ted sites is a challenge to better understand and manage new power generation integration


cost-efficient manner the behaviour and actions of all users connected – generators, consumers and those that do both –, in order to ensure economically efficient, sustainable power sys-tems with low losses and high levels of quality and security of supply and safety is advisable. The systems of productions, conventional and renewable energy regroup the ensemble of the energy sector production capacity. A local system plays an important role in activating the energy intelligence in either the residential, commercial and/or industrial sectors in the in-tegration of renewable energy, smart inverters, storage systems and electric vehicles.

Solutions for optimal integration of renewable energy in existing infrastructures

The integration of renewable energy represents the main challenge of tomorrow for distributi-on system operators. In fact, these resources present some constraints: intermittency, fluc-tuation, and often a potential gap between consumption profiles and production. These constraints can be either reduced or elevated according to the geographical area and the de-mographic profile of consumption. For examp-le, from a residential perspective, the load pro-file is not always in direct relation to the solar production profile.

However, re-examining the situation from a lar-ger perspective, namely that of a district or city, it appears that in most of the cases the profile of consumption would be a perfect match to the solar production. We speak about what is called “Foisonnement” in French, the closest definiti-on is ‘balancing aggregation’. Proliferation de-fines the adequacy production/consumption, in another way, it is the balance of networks distribution: a high “foisonnement” allows the balance and stability of the infrastructures. We can define this phenomenon in this way: as the difference between the amount of the entire instant production and instant consumption on a defined mesh of an electricity network. If the result is close to zero, the “foisonnement” is op-timal, as the immediate production is instantly consumed. Tangible solutions to improve this balancing aggregation already exist.

Mutualisation of different types of end-users with complementary load profiles on a defined zone: residential with morning and evening electricity consumption, industrial and tertiary with higher demand of consumption during the day. By mutualising these different profiles, it is possible to obtain a regular, and stable, consumption load profile.

Mutualisation of different types of “pro-ducers”: wind-turbines, solar, thermal, hydrau-

lic or nuclear, each source complementing the production profile of another. The goal is to maintain a balance in the energy mix and to ob-tain a production profile close to the consump-tion profile, which would therefore be the ideal aggregation.

On the other hand, in rural areas, there is a much greater gap between supply and the de-mand, for example, a solar park in a scarcely po-pulated area or a factory in a remote site consu-ming large amounts of power without enough supply. This situation results in high network im-balances, with common voltage collapses, fre-quencies variations and recurrent grid failures.

Control and load management

In zones where the above “physical” solutions cannot be applied, other “technological” alter-natives such as load shifting and control can be useful to perform targeted actions of grid sup-port and load management:

The control of defined loads/consumers: When the available energy in a certain zone is higher than the production, the distribution network operator activates the loads. This is an example of the automatic activation of applian-ces during off-peak hours that can be adapted to the profile of renewable energy production. When the consumption in this zone exceeds of the amount of energy produced, the distributi-on network operator deactivates the loads. This load shifting technique improves the integration of renewable energy to the existing infrastruc-tures by limiting the disruptive consumption and production peaks.

Smart control of storage systems: Star-ting the battery charge when the renewables’ power supply is higher than the demand and discharging batteries when the production is lower than the consumption represents a via-ble solution to balancing the grid supply and demand.

Various storage solutions

Storage solutions present an undeniable advan-tage as they can be applied for use at different scales: cities, districts, individual or clusters of homes. With this, there would be no need of performing modifications on the existing grid, it would be necessary to group “small” solar sys-tems and couple them with residential storage solutions. This efficient management of grid energy flows optimizes the aggregation balan-cing (‘foisonnement’) and integrates clean car-bon-free energy production without perturbing the current infrastructure.

Technological progress with storage efficiency improvements (lithium, redox), combined with

A high “foisonnement” allows the balance and

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new generations of smart grid inverters, will al-low to offer much more efficient solutions and energy sources management. Such smart grid inverters handle multiple energy sources: pho-tovoltaic, battery, grid, and would therefore provide real-time analysis of production and consumption, which would progressively start replacing conventional grid-tie or off-grid tech-nologies. What further revolutionizes this trend is the possibility of avoiding feeding in solar pro-duction into the grid. It could rather be consu-med at night, when consumption need is the highest, what they produced during the day and store the surplus in batteries as well as in-jecting to the grid only what is left after batte-ries are charged.

These state-of-the-art inverters, based on the high efficiency architecture of grid-tie inverters (combining the standards VDE 0126 and VDE-AR-N 4105), are the only solution to be actively connected to the grid while managing direct self-consumption and battery management all at the same time. Such systems must therefore be interconnected and communicative (M2M) in order to create intelligent clusters allowing to supply network services to the distribution network operators of electricity infrastructures.

A vision for a smarter tomorrow

The world of energy is indeed undergoing a transition. Revolutionary renewable energy de-velopments are forcing ancient energy players to revisit their entire business models. All ener-gy players are preparing for grass-root changes, as it is obvious that one player must work in parallel with the other and not in opposing di-rections. Carbon-free energy and storage will not be a constraint anymore for developing net-works, but rather storage systems will now be the driving force behind electrical infrastructu-res. This transition must be performed in cons-tructive steps:

Harmonization of regulatory framework, re-adaptation and implementation of new economic models: Certain leads such as the fluctuating energy purchase price can be pro-mising. The principle of selling instant produced energy may remain, however, more favorable conditions may be proposed, such as purchasing generated or stored power “upon demand”, which would enable servicing the grid network.

Creation of a new domain and expertise focused on network management and ag-gregation: either externalized or integrated within the operators’ structure can expand em-ployment opportunities. The new tasks would consist of handling applications such as storage capacity, controllable loads distributed within the electrical infrastructure for real-time ma-nagement of energy flows: support and auto-mated load management.

Common communication and exchange between concerned parties is necessa-ry: network administrators, aggregators and manufacturers of storage solutions and smart inverters in order to relate and integrate their latest innovations to the network. Smart-grid inverters and storage management represent real technological breakthroughs and will con-stitute a fundamental component of the smart grid networks of tomorrow.

The perspectives for the development of “smart grids” give a vision of extraordinary social and economic benefits of tomorrow. «

By Christophe Goasguen IMEON ENERGY

The new economic model of selling stored power "upon demand"

» EEBatt – The Energy storage research project

EEBatt is an interdisciplinary project led by the Technische Universität München (TUM) in cooperation with VARTA Sto-rage GmbH and the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern). The project is funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Me-dia, Energy and Technology. The overall goal of the project is to improve energy storage with battery technology. The Institute for Electrical Energy Storage Technology, directed by Prof. Jossen, is responsible for the project manage-ment. Research in the EEBatt project is divided into 10 subprojects.

“The EEBatt project facilitates stationary batte-ry storage research at the TUM in a completely new way. A total of 14 institutes work closely together, act easily across faculties and focus on interdisciplinary research. The chance to con-nect experts from all different fields of battery storage technology research, from the cell level over system technology to market visions and

business research provides cross-linked develop-ment and scientific discussions. With Germany being at the starting point of the energy transi-tion, which aims at an 80 % share of renewa-bles in electricity production, EEBatt focuses on community storage systems. Lithium powered battery storage systems can be applied in many different scenarios and controlled by a variety of operational strategies over several grid levels. Finding the right installation point in grid levels and coupling these with grid serving operational strategies is one of the overall goals of EEBatts’ project outline. With battery storage systems on community levels, which are nowadays hard to setup due to political and legal provisions, the currently occurring problems in grids, which will increase in future, can be attacked. Even today, the new business modelling ideas which we have been discussing closely with our industri-al partners and grid operators show financially beneficial ways of including battery storages in lower grid levels. Energy storages added to lo-wer grid levels not only serve on-site, they sup-port higher grid levels at the same time. Current research topics focus on modelling and simula-

By Simon C. Mueller EEBatt project/TUM

By Markus Müller EEBatt project

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tion of mid-voltage grids with connected low-voltage areas penetrated by stationary battery storage systems. Under the slogan “Produce energy locally, store energy locally and consume energy locally”, the whole community can be transformed into a multigrid serving prosumer.”

Research on cells, battery- and energy managementOne of the largest groups within the project, led by Prof. Hubert Gasteiger, holder of the Chair of Technical Electrochemistry, is focusing on cells itself. Prof. Gasteiger and his team are working on possibilities for performance enhancements, in particular for electrolytes for high-voltage material. Regarding battery chemistries, both lithium titanate (LTO) and lithium iron phos-phate (LFP) are investigated. Moreover, aging- and safety tests are carried out to set the links between cells and their behavior in stationary storage devices in grid-supporting operation mode. Research is also partly conducted by the Institute for Catalyst Characterization. Another considerable aspect of this subproject is its im-portant fundamental research to increase the understanding of processes inside the battery, for example, by experiments on transport num-bers which were numerically investigated. A further notable example is the measurements at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz neutron source at the TUM. Here, neutrons are applied for in-situ measurements of lithium battery cells. In additi-on, the subproject also simulates the cell design (particularly the dimensions of electrodes) in or-der to get feedback for the improvement of the batteries. This work is carried out at the Institu-te for Computational Mechanics and Electrical Energy Storage Technology.

Subproject 3 is dedicated to the improvement of battery management systems (BMS). Here, research is focusing on active and cascaded BMS, the development of temperature moni-toring as well as system and safety tests. This research is conducted under the project lead of the Institute of Automotive Technology.

Subproject 4 focusses on the development and optimization of cell modules and their assem-bly. Here, the development of 3D thermal mo-dels, the design and construction of modules, the module mounting system and joining tech-niques as well as the construction of prototypes are at the center of attention. Like the whole EEBatt project, this subproject is led by the Ins-titute for Electrical Energy Storage Technology.

Furthermore, energy management systems (EMS) are addressed by the research groups. The research in this subproject, led by the Institute for Energy Conversion Technology, addresses vi-sualization and intelligent power measurement as well as the development of operation algo-

rithms. Besides modelling of active EMS and life time optimizing strategies, active communica-tion interfaces between EMS and BMS are de-veloped. These activities are carried out by the Institute for Real-Time Computer Systems.

An additional subproject focuses on the power electronics and particularly addresses the chal-lenges at the power inverters in stationary ener-gy storage devices. Here, one notable research topic is the development of a new multilevel converter technology to be applied in battery storage systems.

Another team is focusing on system integrati-on. This subproject is also led by the Institute of Automotive Technology. Here, a safety concept for the storage system, active thermal manage-ment as well as quality and conformity tests are important. A focus also lies on the research on assembly methods and the potential for cost re-duction.

Field test

The subproject “demo system and field test” is working on the integration of the demonstra-tion system into electric grids. It is carried out by the Power Transmission Systems research group headed by Prof. Rolf Witzmann. The Kraftwerke Haag Group was chosen as a part-ner for a field test of the storage system. The storage system will be installed in Moosham, a village about 35 km east of Munich. Installing domestic PV systems is very common in rural Bavaria. In Moosham, more than 20 out of the 50 households have installed PV, adding up to a total of 300 kW peak. This is the reason why the local transformer station with 250 kVA is reaching its limits. Moosham was chosen out of a set of candidate villages, as the grid topolo-gy is particularly suited to test the TUM energy storage system. It is planned to install smart me-ters in every household willing to participate, in order to simulate the grid of the future. So far, more than 90 % of all households have agreed and more measurement systems could be rolled out to the local grid.

The integration of energy storage systems into the energy infrastructure of the future is also addressed by a separate subproject. The re-search is conducted by the Institute for Rene-wable and Sustainable Energy Systems, led by Prof. Thomas Hamacher. Part of this project is also to analyze the optimal coupling of energy storage with the heat network.

Business research

To date, no standard business model for com-munity energy storage systems has evolved. One reason is the regulatory burdens caused by the utilization of the public grid. The Chair

Field test to simulate the grid of the future


fig. 1 | Battery production line at the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Managements of the TUM. Due to the ability to manufacture entire cells, the results of experiments with novel battery chemistries can be optimized and

verified in realistic settings. | Source : Andreas Heddergott / TUM

for Strategy and Organization and the Chair of Marketing and Consumer Research therefore carry out research to develop business models for energy storage. As part of this process, the subproject also analyzes the customer value proposition. Based on the findings, require-ments from the perspective of storage systems as a potential product are derived. The research is also addressing the question whether the mo-dularity of the stationary battery storage sys-tems can be represented in business models, for instance, by offering different packages to the customers.

Battery production

In addition, EEBatt supports the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Managements’ li-thium battery cell production line, depicted in

figure 1. The possession of an in-house battery production line gives the TUM the possibility to directly test novel chemistries developed in labs. In the facility, new slurries - which seemed to be promising in experiments – can also be tested on a battery scale to derive optimal parameter sets. This ability is therefore an important fea-ture in improving battery cells. «

Simon C. Mueller is working on the EEBatt project at the Chair for Strategy and Or-

ganization (Prof. Welpe) at the School of Management at the Technische Universi-

tät München (TUM).

Marcus Müller is working as project ma-nager at the stationary battery storage

system project EEBatt.

Prof. Andreas Jossen has been leading the Institute of Electrical Energy Storage Technologies at the Technical University

Munich since 2010.

Prof. Isabell M. Welpe has held the Chair for Strategy and Organization at the Tech-

nische Universität München since 2009.

New business models to be developed consi-

dering customer value proposition

Source: © palau83 | fotolia.com

By Ross BrutonFrost & Sullivan

» Evolution of a marketTraditionally, grid reliability and de-mand-supply balancing have been maintained through a combination of: flexing of base-load generation reser-ve capacity; distributed spinning and non-spinning reserve capacity, typically utilising carbon-heavy thermal power (e.g. diesel generators or gas turbines); investments into new transmission in-frastructure or transmission upgrades; or the use of pumped-hydro storage. However, with the rapid growth in variable renewable energy generati-on globally (particularly wind and PV) and new regulatory policies governing performance criteria for their intercon-nection with the grid, there is a present and growing demand for grid-moderni-sation through rapid response storage technologies; one of these is that of battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Battery storage has the ability to provide fle-xibility to the grid across a variety of end-use applications. However, current core drivers to the adoption of the technology is its ability to provide distributed, variable renewable energy

firming and energy time-shift, along with ra-pid short-term electricity balancing for ancillary markets. Battery technology is by no means the only technology that can provide these bene-fits. New technologies in compressed air energy storage, flywheels and super-capacitors all of-fer promising storage applications to the mar-ket. However, due to the rapid development of associated battery markets for electric vehicles (electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehic-les), consumer electronics and wearable pro-ducts (e.g. mobile phones, wrist-wear, head-wear), and the resulting substantial growth in technological development, manufacturing ca-pacity, and cost reductions, battery technology is currently showing one of the most promising options for future commercialisation.

Operational installed capacity (kW) of battery storage has grown considerably over the past decade; from an almost non-existent base to approximately 483.5MW in 2014. The market, however, is still in its very early stages of deve-lopment, and the technology still has signifi-cant challenges to overcome, such as: high costs; low technology maturity; a lack of a clear business case and value proposition; limited practical application data to support labora

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tory efficiencies and safety standards; limited incentives, targets and supporting policies; and limited market consolidation for turn-key solu-tions. That being said, over the past decade si-gnificant strides have been made in terms of technological advancements, coupled with substantial growth in manufacturing, in res-ponse to associated demand markets; thereby resulting in price reductions and growing policy support in core markets. Although BESS tech-nologies represent significant benefits to the market, there are several challenges that still need to be overcome for market acceptance to begin to grow significantly.

Lithium-ion technology expected to show highest degree of growthFive technologies are currently dominating the grid-connected battery market for utility sca-le storage. These are: Sodium-based batteries (Sodium Sulphur, and Sodium Nickel Chloride); Lithium-ion (primarily Lithium Iron Phospha-te and Lithium Titanate); Lead-acid (Advanced Lead-acid, Carbon-enriched Lead-acid); Flow (Vanadium Redox, Zinc Bromide); and Nickel-based (Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries.

Sodium-based batteries (NaS), primarily sold by NGK Insulators, has historically dominated the market in terms of installed capacity (kW). While many of these projects have been develo-ped for commercial or industrial customers and therefore do not fall within the research scope, NGK Insulators has still retained its leadership position over the past five years, mainly through global sales of its NaS technology to Japanese and international utilities and grid operators.

Lithium-ion batteries have shown substanti-al market growth since 2008, driven primarily

through its combination of technological ad-vantages in energy density, discharge cycle life and calendar life; along with dramatic cost re-ductions, as a result of an oversupply of manu-facturing capacity from associated markets (e.g. EV market). Technology adoption, however, is not exclusively cost sensitive and is largely in-fluenced by the nature of the intended appli-cation, along with the relative operating envi-ronment and geographies in which it operates.

While Lithium-ion and Lead-acid battery tech-nologies are susceptible to extreme tempera-tures, Sodium-based technologies show strong resilience to ambient temperature shifts. Due to Lithium-ion batteries’ high energy density, fast reaction time, and ability to handle short charge and discharge cycles, the technology is well sui-ted for power applications, such as frequency regulation; whereas Sodium-based or Flow bat-teries are better suited to energy applications, such as electric energy time-shift, due to their ability to handle long charge and discharge cy-cles and still maintain suitable calendar lives.Choice of technology may further largely de-pend on geographic factors. Distributed power applications in remote locations, such as deve-loping countries, would require batteries with long calendar lives and minimal maintenance. In such a case, flow batteries show great promise.Although the decision-making criteria for sys-tem selection differ significantly based on the nature of the project, generally, these criteria can be categorised as follows:

Renewable integration to drive adoption of battery storageThe end-use application market for storage can be broadly separated into power and energy ap-plications, with power applications providing a high power output over a short duration, and

Battery storage is getting cheaper and is

being politically supported

Different technologies can be chosen depen-ding on their field of

application

TECHNOLOGY


All figures are rounded. The base year is 2014 | Source: Frost & Sullivan

energy applications providing a lower degree of power over longer discharge duration. Typically, power application storage is used in the mainte-nance of the health of the grid, through offe-ring short-term electricity balancing in ancillary services, such as, frequency regulation, voltage support, ramping, and transmission support; along with renewable energy smoothing. Ener-gy applications, however, serve as energy sour-ces to support the reliability of energy supply and maintain demand-supply levelling. Such applications include: energy time-shift; electric capacity or reserve capacity; load-following; and transmission & distribution upgrade defer-ral. Other core markets in distributed power, along with residential and commercial markets, also represent significant opportunities; howe-ver, as previously mentioned, these fall outside the scope of the research summarised in this article and will be investigated independently in future market reports.

Currently, the net present value (NPV) of battery technologies, over a ten year calendar life, sig-nificantly exceed the life-time gross benefit for long duration battery applications (i.e. energy applications); and substantial cost reductions are still required until such systems will be viable for these applications, when operated in isolati-on. It must be noted, however, that due to the multipurpose flexibility of battery systems, most installed systems will serve a variety of end-use applications simultaneously, thereby increasing the total net benefit achieved by the system over its calendar life. Therefore, while power applications are expected to be the initial driver for primary end-use in the near term, battery systems are still expected to grow significantly in energy applications (e.g. renewable energy time-shift) as associated operations.

USA and Japan: leading markets in battery storageIn terms of grid-connected battery storage for utility end-use, the USA is currently the mar-

ket leader (It must be noted, however, that if grid-connected storage for commercial and in-dustrial customers is included in this segmenta-tion, this could differ). When considering total installed energy capacity (kWh) within national markets, Japan emerges as the leader, due to the use of battery storage primarily for renewa-ble energy firming and time-shifting; requiring longer discharge duration times, as opposed to a substantial degree of power storage appli-cations in the USA (i.e. frequency regulation).Other key future, near-term markets include that of China, Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico and potentially South Korea.

Core markets for the technology are expected to be represented by markets with significant growth in renewable power, along with mar-kets requiring a greater degree of flexibility in the grid; either due to the need to integrate distributed power across significant geographic distances or the need to compensate for a low level of inertia in the grid, often resulting from largely centralised generation infrastructure with a limited number of plants (e.g. island mar-kets).

Total installed power (kW) of bat-tery storage expected to reach 10.5 GW by 2024

A substantial degree of hype has surrounded the battery storage market over the past five years, driven by very bullish forecasts. Over-op-timistic forecasting, in both the battery storage and EV market, has contributed to an oversup-ply of market capacity, resulting in no small de-gree of market turmoil.

Since 2010, two of the largest market players, Xtreme Power (following curtailment of batte-ry production in 2013) and A123 Systems, went bankrupt due to significantly lower-than-expec-ted market growth rates in both grid scale and EV markets. In 2015, General Electric has further

Key markets expected to grow due to the need for grid flexibility


indicated that the company will be scaling back production of their Sodium-ion Durathon batte-ries targeted for grid-storage due to a “slow-to-develop market for grid scale energy storage”.

In order to ensure that a comfortable degree of future market clarity can be provided to mar-ket stakeholders, it is important that a clear and rational case for utility scale, grid-connected battery storage growth is established, based on the development of the market up until now, its primary drivers, and the core restraints preven-ting market commercialisation.

Based on the modelling conducted by Frost & Sullivan, a picture is provided of the varying scenarios that the grid-connected battery mar-ket will have to face over the next ten years. For all the scenarios mentioned below, with the exception of the “low oil price scenario”, market acceptance is assumed to begin to grow signifi-cantly from 2017.

The base line scenario

The base line scenario represents the scenario where growth is based on the markets’ relative sensitivities to fluctuations in the global renewa-ble energy landscape (MW). Market acceptance does not occur in this period and growth con-tinues based on historic market forces. While project development will still continue, the be-nefits of these systems will not be sufficient to assimilate other storage technologies’ market shares or drive growth of primary market appli-cations as a percentage of total storage.

The technical market potential scenario

The technical market potential scenario reflects a market future whereby battery technology re-presents all growth in installed base of storage for its primary end-use applications, namely: renewable energy integration, frequency regu-lation, renewable energy firming and renewable energy time-shift.

The new growth scenario (high road)

The new growth scenario (high road) repre-sents a market future whereby all growth in the technology’s primary application markets, out-side of pumped-storage growth, is attributed to battery storage.

The new growth scenario (low road)

The new growth scenario (low road) repre-sents a market future whereby all growth in the technology’s primary application markets, out-side of all other competing technologies (pum-ped-hydro, thermal, electro-chemical, electro-mechanical), is attributed to battery storage.

The most likely scenario

The most likely scenario represents a market future, similar to the new growth (low road) scenario, but where thermal storage growth slows to total storage growth levels due to rapid growth in battery technology and its assimilati-on of thermal storage market share. Furthermo-re, directly competing technologies (e.g. elec-trochemical, electromechanical) do not achieve market acceptance in the primary application markets identified and therefore continue to grow at historic growth rates.

The low oil price scenario

The low oil price scenario shows a market fu-ture that exists under the same assumptions as the most likely scenario, with the exception that market acceptance only begins to influence the market in 2018, due to prolonged low oil prices into 2016.

Scenario Assessment

Frost & Sullivan believes that the base line scena-rio is unlikely to materialise. With advancements in technology, price reductions, piloting and data collection, and positive investor sentiment already achieved by the market, it is unlikely that the market will not achieve market accep-tance before 2019; at least without a significant change in global circumstances. Furthermore, it is also unlikely that by 2024, battery technology would have grown to a point whereby it would be able to account for the entirety of growth within its primary end-use applications. Frost & Sullivan, therefore, further feels that the tech-nical market potential scenario is bullish within the timeframe. That being said, it is likely that battery storage technology will have progressed to a point whereby its implementation in long-discharge duration application would represent a strong driver to growth by 2024; significantly increasing the technical market potential in the following years.

In order to refine this further and take into ac-count the assimilation of competing technology growth off-the-back-of rapid growth in battery technology, it is the view of Frost & Sullivan that the “most likely” scenario represents the best estimate of the market size for the utility-scale, grid-connected battery storage market in 2024. Frost & Sullivan therefore predicts the market to amount to approximately 10.49GW of ope-rational installed power by 2024. The battery storage market will enter its growth phase post 2020.

The grid-connected, utility scale battery market is currently still in its infancy but is poised for significant future growth. However, before

Scenarios based on assumption that market acceptance will start to

grow from 2017

TECHNOLOGY


Source: IRENA

this can occur, data collection, technology per-formance, and cost competitiveness of battery systems need to develop to a point whereby broad-based market confidence in the achieve-ment of a suitable net benefit to system opera-tion as a whole can be met. In pursuit of this, the market is being promoted primarily through an increasing need for grid-flexibility, driven by significant increases in renewable energy deve-lopment within key markets.

Due to a five to ten year calendar life of most battery technologies, pilot projects commissi-oned since 2010 are expected to reach the end of their battery cells’ calendar lives between 2015 and 2020. Furthermore, with the launch of the California mandate, establishing energy storage procurement targets for 2020, it is likely that global energy regulators and utilities will assess the impact and teething problems faced by the Californian regulator and utilities until, at least, the 2016 milestone of the program, in order to identify lessons in best practice to be implemented in local programs. Taking these two points into consideration, it can be expec-ted that market acceptance of grid-scale batte-

ry storage will begin to take root from approxi-mately 2017, and grow rapidly from 2020.

Taking the above analysis into consideration, over the next ten years, although there still re-main significant hurdles to be negotiated, bat-tery storage is expected to become an integral part of renewable energy development and grid-operations in the future. «

Ross Bruton Senior Industry Analyst

Frost & Sullivan

FURTHER INFORMATION

The article is based upon Frost & Sullivan research

conducted for the grid-connected, utility-scale battery

energy storage system (BESS) market for utility appli-

cation.

» Transformation of an Energy Storage Systems provider

Leclanché has invested in research and development for over 100 years and combines experience in battery research and manufacturing. The com-pany recognizes trends early on and responds to these with new, innovative products. Globally, energy supply is at a turning point. Climate change and the limitations of natural resources are cur-rently driving the development of rene-wable energies. Consequently, power generation is becoming more volatile.

In order to synchronise weather-dependent po-wer generation and consumption, intermediate storage of energy is needed. Energy storages from Leclanché can contribute to overcoming this challenge. Leclanché has set itself the tar-get to support and help shape the transition of energy sourcing with new innovative storage solutions, thus making energy available in the future that is safe, cost effective and climate friendly. In an exclusive interview with ees In-ternational, Anil Srivastava, CEO at Leclanché,

explains the advantages of different materials and the strategy how to position Leclanché as a supplier of complete battery systems.

ees: Mr. Srivastava, you were named CEO of Leclanché about a year ago. What was your motivation when you took on the po-sition?

I have been working in the energy sector for a long time. I was CEO at AREVA Renewables and have gained significant insight into the workings of the most diverse technologies in the renewa-ble energy sector across the entire Value Chain of the Electricity Markets, including Generation, Transmission and Distribution. The efficient sto-rage and release of electricity is the next logical step in making renewable energies fully compe-titive. Leclanché benefits from having an excel-lent development team as well as best in class products of the highest quality. The company is among the most advanced manufacturers of li-thium-titanate in the world and we would like to achieve a similar level of success with our newly introduced graphite/NMC storage technology.


CEO Anil Srivastava Leclanché

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ees: All of the leading analyst firms are predicting a rosy future for the storage technology sector after years of stagnati-on. Do you share their optimism?

I think that the sector has reached a watershed moment. The technology has made significant progress and is ready for market. It is now up to us suppliers to realize economies of scale and to bring together the advantages of different sto-rage technologies in innovative systems. This will enable us to further reduce system cost and the total cost of ownership. We can thereby rai-se competitiveness and simultaneously be in a position to address the exciting business models in transportation and in the electricity network. I’m extremely optimistic about the existing po-tential. At the same time, however, I’m also rea-listic enough to warn against exaggeration – to

Electrochemical differentiator | Source: Leclanché

date the industry hype has always fallen flat. At the moment the energy storage debate is still strongly oriented around the advantages and disadvantages of individual storage technolo-gies. More attention needs to be paid to the fact that it is the application itself that defines the battery technology.

ees: Your aim is to position Leclanché as a supplier of complete battery systems, co-vering the entire spectrum of electrical and energy intensive applications. How do you intend to achieve this?

We are working on coupling graphite/NMC cells, which have a high energy density, with advanced titanate cells for power-intensive ap-plications. This is our answer to the increasing complexity of potential usage scenarios. Often the capacity requirements far exceed the actual performance. Some applications require high

power that is immediately available. In other ca-ses, it is cheap storage systems with long-lasting capacity that are in demand. It may be the case that one requirement needs to be seamlessly followed by the other. Our multi-technology ap-proach brings the best of two worlds together. Titanate-technology is recognized as being par-ticularly safe and robust.

With around 15,000 charge/discharge cycles the cells have a very long service life of up to 20 years, and depth of discharge is up to 100 percent. The somewhat lower energy density of the titanate technology can be complimented through graphite cells in the same logical Batte-ry Energy Storage Systems. Our graphite/NMC cells are well-suited for applications that require limited power and low consumption volumes.

In this case 8,000 charge/discharge cycles at 80 percent depth of discharge, with a service life of around 10 years, is more than adequate.

ees: With its hybrid systems, Leclanché combines the strengths of different sto-rage technologies. What advantages and benefits are you offering your customers through this?

We are able to address our customers’ storage system requirements in a targeted way and to align the chemical composition and mixture accordingly. Electric buses are a particularly good example of a suitable application for hyb-rid systems: for one, buses need quick storage systems with high capacity, especially with each start and acceleration after a stop.

In addition, they need storage systems with a high energy density for the distances between


Software and Management capabilities | Source: Leclanché

stops. And don’t forget the fast charging during short opportunities at bus stops and bus sta-tions. Multi-technology battery systems are the best solution here, whereby different battery types seamlessly take on these different tasks. They make it possible for the buses to cover lon-ger distances without the need to connect to a charging station. This usage scenario is equally applicable to trains, tugboats, or ferries.

The question regarding the best system design is not only relevant to transport applications. The development of an efficient and flexible electricity network architecture, able to hand-le large quantities of fluctuating renewable energies, also requires intelligent solutions. Ul-timately it is up to the electricity suppliers and network operators to use storage systems as intelligent network resources. In the long-term this is more economical than providing every renewable energy producer with their own sto-rage system.

ees: What are the economic advantages resulting from the use of multi-technology battery systems?

Only when storage systems are capable of ful-filling the diverse requirements equally well, will batteries be deployed in such a way as to fully exploit their potential. Otherwise they will either be oversized, their service life limited, or their usage will be sub-optimal. Energy storage costs are usually given in dollars per installed kilowatt-hours capacity. Yet this clearly falls short as a means of evaluating the total opera-ting costs of energy-storage systems. Operating costs or TCO are defined through the chemical mixture at specific load profiles – in many cases this method leads to greater efficiencies.

ees: You want to profile the company as the only supplier with 100 percent proprie-tary technology. How can Leclanché achie-ve this?

I would call it a vertically integrated business mo-del, rather than proprietary. It requires intelligent software to seamlessly combine the strengths of the respective storage technologies – whether for stationary applications or for electromobility.

Our growth-plan includes the licensing and acquisition of module designs and battery ma-nagement systems. These technologies, compa-rable with IT systems, feed the storage system with information and instructions, for example, to take on or to release the appropriate amount of energy.

Our software and the battery-management sys-tem make it possible for us to create systems that are perfectly tailored to the needs of our customers. Rather than claiming that a battery can do everything, we see the market as being driven by the application, and we are in a posi-tion to meet those specific needs through our packaged solutions.

We are transforming Leclanché’s business model to a Software-and- Integration led vertically in-tegrated Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) provider that encompasses dual Cells (Power and Energy); Modules and Battery Management System.

I would like to reiterate that we do have a Busi-ness Unit, Specialty Battery Systems, where we are Cell Technology agnostic. Here, our core of-fering is System Integration tailored to deliver a BESS per Customer’s specifications.


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Software and Management capabilities | Source: Leclanché

ees: What’s next for Leclanché?

In short, we are determined to become a market leader. We are delivering solid proof-points le-veraging our unique BESS offering. Let me give two recent examples to illustrate the point: We have recently entered into a strategic alliance with the Finnish electric-transport specialist Vi-sedo Oy. Together, we are developing electric drive trains and are cooperating on electric drive and propulsion projects for industrial machinery and the marine industry. These segments are fa-cing increasing regulations towards developing improved energy efficiency and reducing both emission and noise pollution.

We will jointly develop a Battery Management System (BMS) through the merging of Visedo’s battery control system with Leclanché’s batte-ry management know-how. The integration of battery and traction control systems will estab-lish the first full plug-and-play drive train system on the market, applicable to any electric bus or EV-solution. This combined offer will deliver 20 to 30 percent better efficiency than comparable systems currently in the market place. I am very

glad to say that we have been selected as pre-ferred suppliers of electric drive and propulsion projects with batteries over 10 MWh in terms of battery capacity for the period of 2016 till 2020.

We have also received the order of 8.5 million Euros from our project partner Younicos AG for the Graciosa island micro-grid solution. We will deliver the entire Battery Power Plant (BPP) on a turnkey basis. It will include a complete BESS, using our industry leading Lithium Titanate bat-teries combined with inverters. The order marks a significant breakthrough for us, validating our stationary technology in fast developing markets and to deploy advanced grid-scale sto-rage systems for the increased integration and management of renewable energies. I am qui-te confident that we will be able to announce additional exciting projects over the coming months. «


Katrin Schirrmacher ees International

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By Dirk Spiers Spiers New Technologies

Inc. (SNT)

» 1st call for ESS Pilot Projects? Much has been written about the revo-lutionary impact of lithium-ion batte-ries on battery technology. But what is sometimes not well appreciated is the revolutionary impact the automobile has had on lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries were first sold by Sony for consumer applications in 1991. Since that time, tens of billions of small format lithium-ion battery cells have been manufactured and sold around the world. The design, quality and per-formance of those cells, however, vary widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and over time.

The real revolution in lithium-ion technology occurred when automotive manufacturers deci-ded to put lithium-ion batteries into electric and hybrid-electric vehicles (xEVs). The quality, per-formance, safety and reliability demanded from lithium-ion batteries by automotive manufactu-rers is well beyond anything required by con-sumer electronics. As a result, the lithium-ion battery cells and packs that are now installed in xEVs by the major automotive OEMs are among the most sophisticated, most reliable and safest batteries in the world.

This focus on sophistication, reliability and safe-ty resulted in higher prices for automotive gra-de lithium-ion batteries—at least initially. These high prices predictably depressed xEV sales. So the lithium-ion industry had to look for another market for large format lithium-ion batteries. And it has found it in energy storage-stationary (ESS), grid-connected lithium-ion batteries that balance variable renewable energy on the grid and otherwise firm the supply and quality of electricity.

The size of the ESS market is still unclear. But in the mid-term it may be as large, if not substantially larger, than the market for xEV batteries. Tesla’s recent announcement of battery products for both the home and uti-lity markets underlines how seriously the battery industry takes the new ESS market. A year ago I moderated a panel at The Battery Show in Novi, Michigan on the combination of ESS and distributed renewable energy generati-on. One of the questions debated by the panel was whether batteries combined with distribu-ted renewable power (principally solar PV) will do to traditional electric utilities what Federal Express and e-mail has done to the US Postal system?

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I believe that it will. For the first time since the grid was built, its business model is under seve-re pressure. Solar PV combined with batteries is for the first time giving consumers a choice of where they get their electricity from. With the prices of PV panels and batteries declining and the cost of generating and transmitting electri-city from large central generating plants going up, the momentum towards remaking the elec-tricity grid to one based on a more distributed model of electricity generation is growing stron-ger by the day. Batteries which used to balance the inherent variability of electricity generated by solar PV panels will play an important role on the new, distribution-centric electricity grid.

But where will those batteries come from?Advanced battery manufacturers will make lithium-ion batteries specifically for ESS applica-tions. The problem with manufacturing batte-ries specifically for ESS applications is that the-re is not just one ESS application for batteries, there are many of them, and there is also the cost factor.

But what if an ESS solution was available today that used the most sophisticated, most reliable and safest large format lithium-ion batteries in the world? Would those batteries also have a high power density (a high power to size rati-on) and energy density (high power to energy ratio) and could be located anywhere without consideration of safety and/or operational con-ditions?

And what if those batteries were already being manufactured at scale, with prices dropping by as much as 15 percent per year? Indeed, the best, safest, most reliable and most cost-effici-ent answer to the ESS market challenge simply lies under the hood of the closest xEV.

The repurposing of lithium-ion automotive bat-teries for non-automotive use is often referred to as Second Life. This term is often misunder-stood to mean the re-use of automotive batte-ries in the aftermarket for non-automotive ap-plications. This is true, but only in part. Because large format lithium-ion batteries are expected to have as much as 80 percent of their energy and power density remaining after their remo-val from an xEV at the end of its useful life, it is quite possible that this remaining capacity can be repurposed for ESS applications. Second Life also describes the more general repurposing of automotive lithium-ion batteries, whether new or used, for non-automotive energy storage ap-plications. Second Life takes advantage of the huge investments in engineering and manufac-turing already made by the automotive indus-try in lithium-ion technology. This technology will, I believe, provide the best, safest and most

reliable solution for many ESS applications in the future.

For all its promise, Second Life is not for the faint of heart. Automotive lithium-ion batte-ries are designed for use in xEVs, not for ESS applications. Repurposing automotive batteries for Second Life use requires a detailed under-standing of both applications and the expertise to make the necessary modifications efficiently. Working with automotive batteries coming out of actual vehicle use adds further complexity. In order to make it worthwhile, it requires si-gnificant investments in equipment, processes and knowledge. Advanced grading algorithms, allowing for rapid characterization of returned automotive packs and modules, is key in order to find the right application for its second life and also give the buyer valuable data and ease of mind. Safe and efficient disassembly proces-ses are needed to make Second Life cost-effici-ent. Furthermore, legal hurdles -especially in the US- about liability issues need to be resolved with the OEMs.

Then there are technical and volume issues. One challenge with utilizing these battery packs is the varying voltages, chemistries, and lifetimes associated with the different remaining batte-ry modules. Some of the electric vehicle packs come with modules that are at 24V while others could be in the range of several hundred volts. Research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in partnership with SNT Inc, funded by the De-partment of Energy’s Office of Electricity Energy Storage Program, has been investigating how to merge these different modules with low-cost power electronics to provide a single grid scale energy storage solution. The preliminary design is focused on a 100kW unit composed of a mix of PHEV/PEV battery modules.

But if properly managed, Second Life use of automotive lithium-ion batteries in ESS appli-cations offers a number of advantages. Second Life use will allow automotive OEMs a greater control over their battery pack inventories and contribute to higher volumes that could help bring down xEV prices. Second Life also promi-ses users of ESS applications access to a techno-logy that is already developed and proven in the field and that is already manufactured to quality specifications that custom-built ESS batteries are unlikely to see for some time.

This is an exciting time to be entering the ESS market. But look for the automotive manufac-turers that through Second Life lithium-ion bat-teries have the inside track. «

Dirk Spiers is the CEO of Spiers New Technologies Inc. (SNT).

Integrating different battery technologies with different battery modules

By Bryan Godber Trojan Battery

» Carbon – The Answer to Partial State of Charge

Deep-cycle batteries are critical com-ponents of any renewable energy (RE), telecom and inverter backup system operating in off-grid or unstable grid locations. These types of challenging conditions oftentimes result in the bat-teries being heavily cycled at partial state of charge (PSOC), meaning that they are often never fully recharged on a regular basis. Operating at PSOC can quickly diminish the overall life of a battery, which results in frequent, cost-ly battery replacements.

Addressing the issue of PSOC and its impact on battery performance and overall life has re-mained a challenge – until now. Advancements in carbon technology and its addition to lead acid batteries have shown to extend the life of deep-cycle batteries designed for RE, telecom and inverter backup applications.Over the last several years, battery manufacturers have done extensive research on various ways to solve the negative impact PSOC has on deep-cycle batte-

ries. While most research has been conducted in automotive applications, the increased use of deep-cycle, lead acid batteries in RE, tele-com and inverter applications has driven R&D on how the use of carbon additives can suc-cessfully address the negative impacts of PSOC cyclic applications. While most carbon additi-ve research has focused on VRLA batteries for start-stop automotive applications, the need for carbon in deep-cycle flooded batteries for stationary applications is increasing. Deep-cycle flooded batteries are still the most widely used battery technology in cycling stationary appli-cations due to their widespread availability and more economical price point, so the addition of carbon formulas to these types of batteries is sure to gain widespread adoption.

PSOC is a reality of most off-grid and unstable grid RE systems. Why? Frequently, solar panels used in these applications are undersized, pre-venting batteries from achieving a full rechar-ge. The same is true with intermittent weather conditions or placement of solar panels in shady areas, which affect a solar installation’s ability

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to fully recharge batteries. PSOC is also com-mon in inverter backup systems when batteries are not fully charged because the grid frequent-ly goes down. Since the grid is the main char-ging source for the batteries, the consistent un-availability of the grid prevents deep-cycle batteries from being fully recharged on a regu-lar basis, resulting in diminished life of the bat-tery. In addition, telecom applications which operate off-grid, rely on an unstable grid, or depend on a hybrid RE/battery system for pow-er faces the same PSOC issues as does solar. This is also true for telecom applications that are powered by diesel generators, which serve as the main charging sources for a telecom solution’s battery backup system. In many diesel generator installations, the system is often set up to purposely not bring the deep-cycle batte-ries to a full state of charge on a daily basis in order to save money on fuel costs, once again resulting in batteries operating in PSOC condi-tions.

Carbon Counteracts Negative Effects of PSOCEngineering teams at the world’s leading batte-ry manufacturers have been experimenting with a number of types of carbon in various formulas for several years to find the right mix that can successfully address the effects of PSOC. One example is Trojan Battery’s Smart Carbon™ pro-prietary formula which provides improved per-formance when deep-cycle batteries operate in PSOC. Smart Carbon™ helps enhance overall battery life in an application where the batteries are not fully recharged on a regular basis. How-ever, not all carbon additives are alike or provide the same level of performance improvement, so it is important to do your research. Be sure to

consider batteries which offer enhanced perfor-mance, including improved charge acceptance and faster recharge, in PSOC applications. You will also want to consider what leading industry research organizations are saying about the use of carbon additives in deep-cycle batteries. The-se market and technology research firms have conducted independent studies on the use of carbon in lead acid batteries and have found that the use of carbon on a battery’s negative plates dramatically reduces sulfation at PSOC which is the leading cause of shortened cycle life of lead acid batteries. The research organi-zations below have recently published research findings on carbon additives, and customers should refer to these when selecting batteries.

Advanced Lead Acid Battery Con-sortium (ALABC)ALABC, an international research cooperati-ve organized to enhance the performance of lead-acid batteries for a variety of markets, has released findings from its member battery industry companies stating that “lead carbon batteries provide better performance in partial state-of-charge operations, making them op-timal for applications requiring high-rate and recharge.”

Battery Council International (BCI)

BCI, a trade association representing industry-leading battery manufacturing companies, has also released findings from its member compa-nies stating that “Newly developed carbon-based advanced lead acid technology has the ability to provide high energy efficiency and ab-sorb charge rapidly, making it ideal for appli-cations that operate at a partial state of charge.

The use of carbon on a battery's negative pla-tes dramatically reduces sulfation at PSOC


Telecom India | Source: Trojan Battery

Advanced lead acid batteries will support these applications at 1/3 of the cost of nickel cadmi-um and 1/4 of the cost of lithium ion batteries.”

Enhanced Battery Performance with CarbonWhile PSOC cycling will continue to be an is-sue in renewable energy applications, there are now special carbon formulas available from bat-tery manufacturers to address the challenge of PSOC. Deep-cycle batteries offering carbon ad-ditives, such as Smart Carbon from Trojan Bat-tery, can provide higher conductivity, reduced sulfation and improved opportunity charging in PSOC applications. Studies show that carbon formulas, such as Smart Carbon, can provide up to 15% improved cycle life of batteries used in PSOC applications versus batteries that do not contain carbon additives, so customers must do their research when selecting the best type of deep-cycle batteries for your RE, telecom and inverter backup applications.

Remote Telecom Application in IndiaIn a recent installation in India, for American Tower Co. and Quanta TowerGen, Trojan Bat-tery project integrator Team Sustain, installed a unique remote telecom system which is mo-nitored and controlled remotely. To ensure reli-able transmission of critical system data, Team Sustain developed the Green Energy & Ener-gy Management System (GeEMS), a remote monitoring software program which enables customers to quickly and easily monitor the operation and health of the entire telecom site including the batteries which power it. The soft-ware connects to the system’s controllers and wireless telemetry to manage the battery bank.

The battery bank’s state of charge (SOC) is mo-nitored by the software, with key information transmitted and stored on off-site servers for later data evaluation.

The battery energy storage solution used was Trojan’s Smart Carbon™ batteries to address PSOC common in these types of telecom ins-tallations. To ensure the health and security of each cell tower location’s battery bank, Team Sustain developed a unique climate-controlled cabinet to house the batteries which allows for passive cooling, decreasing the site temperature for the batteries without drawing power from the system or batteries. The climate-controlled battery enclosure also features a battery water reservoir and tubing with mechanical automa-tic floats for easy watering; sensors to monitor temperature, voltage and current; and a com-munication bus incorporated inside the com-biner box to transfer the collected data to the remote servers.

“To maintain system uptime, these customers previously had to depend on diesel generators for power, which incurred a high OPEX,” said George Matthews, president of TeamSustain. “TeamSustain telecom customers require a re-liable solar-based system with a properly sized battery bank to power remote telecom sites. Our solution with Trojan battery backup has considerably reduced the high OPEX and CO2

emissions previously produced at these loca-tions. These savings are expected to result in the system achieving its ROI in less than four years.” «

By Bryan Godber Trojan Battery

Carbon formulas can provide up to 15% im-

provement of cycle life of batteries

By Nicolas Schmutz Reuniwatt

» Solar forecasting: take control of your system

One of the major stakes in the energy transition is the integration of an im-portant amount of energy coming from renewable energy sources into the elec-tric system. With an abundant potenti-al, economically and environmentally advantageous, solar and wind energies still have a common weakness: their de-pendency on climatic hazards. Because of the constrained variability of their production, these energy sources are qualified as intermittent.

Inserting an ever bigger part of solar and wind energies in the energy mix thus brings new chal-lenges compared to traditional sources. It is now becoming necessary to rethink the structure of the electrical grids and the energy markets as well as an evolution of the network’s manage-ment methods. New tools must be set up and those allowing a better anticipation of solar in-termittency play a key role. This is where fore-casting tools come into play. Energy forecasting depends on the solar irradiance reaching the

ground (GHI, Global Horizontal Irradiance) and on the technical parameters of the photovoltaic system in consideration (orientation, tilt of the panels, etc.). The incident irradiance is determi-ned by two factors:

The angle of incidence along which the sunbeams reach the ground: This astronomi-cal variable can be computed with a high preci-sion anywhere on the globe.

The transparency of the atmosphere, mostly affected by clouds: When they move in front of the sun, they induce radical variations of the shaded solar panels’ electricity produc-tion. Forecasting the evolution of the nebulosity is a problem, the subject of many academic re-search projects, and the core of all forecasting systems.

To be sure of the precision of forecasting at dif-ferent time horizons or spatial scales, it is neces-sary to use different technologies, according to your specific needs:

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Very short-term forecasting is possible thanks to wide-angle ground cameras. Cloud shapes and movements are detected on the ac-quired pictures. This shadow projection of the clouds on the ground allows the computing of the solar energy production. This method is par-ticularly relevant for single-plant predictions.

Intraday forecasting at a larger scale is based on meteorological geostationary satellites. Here again, image post-treatment enables the isola-tion of the cloud cover. The coupling between sky structure and an irradiance atlas – giving the power of the electromagnetic radiance on the ground in clear-sky situations – yields irradiance prediction maps, particularly appropriate for country-wide PV scheduling or integration or even energy trading.

For day-ahead forecasts, image treatment is replaced by Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models, which are computed simulati-ons of the atmosphere. These simulations can be post-processed using statistical tools (like Model Output Statistics) or data assimilation.

Solar forecasting: a far-reaching resource for the energy value chain

While the use of renewable energy resources is increasing, new practices have been deve-loped that are leading clean energies towards economic competitiveness: integration in the free power market, combination with gensets or batteries. To achieve this, the whole energy supply system must be rethought to meet the constraints of massively used intermittent re-

sources. Thanks to the continuous progress of the information and communication technolo-gies, the observability and the management of the electricity network can be improved consi-derably. PV forecasting, which brings solutions for the management of solar intermittence, will become increasingly essential.

Thus, in order to better handle solar energy’s intermittence and optimize its integration, the actors of the solar electricity value chain (pro-ject developers, plant operators, transmission and distribution grid operators, balance respon-sible entities, etc.) can rely on solar electricity production forecasting.

Forecasting the renewable energy sources’ elec-tricity output allows to optimize the day-ahead and intra-day load balancing for the transmis-sion system operators (TSOs). The uncertainty creates over-costs, either because some produc-tion units will be asked to be ready to produce electricity but will not be used eventually (when the production is underestimated) or because electricity will have to be bought on the spot market (when the production is overestimated). Forecasting also allows a more accurate ma-nagement of the needs in availability of primary and secondary peaking power plants. Knowing that solar electricity production can go up and down by 70% in 5 minutes, the need of such forecasts is obvious. TSOs already use weather prediction data (temperature, nebulosity) and refine them in intra-day forecasting thanks to remote measures. A specific PV forecasting tool based on satellite measures might be an interes-ting complementary tool, allowing a very good real-time precision to reconstruct solar PV pro-ductions (converting sunshine data into power

Free-power market integration: Whole

energy supply system must be rethought

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produced by a PV plant) at a national or local level, and a controlled downgrading of the pre-cision depending on the time horizon.

For power distribution utilities, forecasting the distributed solar production allows to better ma-nage the constraints on the electrical network at a source substation level, and improve their net load forecasts while taking into account behind-the-meter solar, which for the time being is lar-gely invisible to these stakeholders.

Solar systems equipped with storage batteries will appear everywhere, on-grid as well as off-grid and on centralized or distributed grids. Due to the testing of diverse sizing and management strategies, we will be able to select the best use cases. Solar forecasting can be considered a moderate cost decision-making tool, which re-presents an opportunity to optimize the strain on the batteries and to improve the electric system’s profitability. «

Solar radiation (GHI) forecasting for the Albioma power plant (Saint Leu, Reunion Island), at 6 hours (in orange) and 30 minutes (in blue) time horizons, on November 16th and 17th, 2014. Source: Reuniwatt

A CASE STUDY: REUNION ISLAND

Using predictions for a solar+storage system

In non-interconnected insular areas, the share of re-

newable energies in the energy mix can already be

substantial. In the middle of the day, the share of solar

can reach over 30% on Reunion Island (334,000 cus-

tomers), a French Island in the Indian Ocean, located

close to Mauritius. This level is considered a threshold:

beyond this level, PV variability is beginning to have

noticeable impacts on grid operations. In order to li-

mit the load variability constraints on the networks,

photovoltaic electricity producers have to follow a

load profile with a trapeze shape. They also have to

announce the maximal power delivered. In order to

respect this profile, they have to associate their pro-

duction equipment with an energy storage solution.

The non-compliance with the announced profile leads

to fines.

Forecast data are the data provided to an electricity

producer, for a 946kW photovoltaic power plant coup-

led to a 1,200kWh lithium-ion storage solution located

on the rooftop of a commercial centre in Saint-Leu,

Reunion Island. These data are provided at different

time horizons, ranging from 15 minutes to 48 hours.

They are integrated in the Energy Management System

(EMS), the IT management system of the solar power

plant and the batteries that analyse the data in order

to inject an appropriate amount of power into the grid.

Author Nicolas Schmutz is Chief Execu-tive Officer and founder of Reuniwatt,

a young and innovative company. After leading solar implementation projects on Reunion Island, and driven by a culture of

innovation, he founded the company in 2010, with the aim of developing a state-

of-the-art global PV forecasting tool.

Source: © Galerie212 | fotolia.com

» Grid-Scale energy storage More than just pilot projectsAs a leader in the rapidly growing energy storage market, Greensmith delivered one-third of the total energy storage capacity in the U.S. in 2014, has 19 customers using its software at 40 different sites for appli-cations such as frequency regulation, ramp rate control and renewables smoothing. Greensmith was recently one of 10 clean energy companies named a New Energy Pi-oneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In an exclusive interview with ees Interna-tional, John Jung, Chief Executive Officer at Greensmith, talked about trends, mar-ket driver and developments regarding storage technology, its challenges and ap-plication tasks.

ees: What is Greensmith’s business model and who are your major customers?

Greensmith is a provider of grid-scale energy storage software and an integrator of grid-scale storage systems. Our GEMS software platform optimizes the performance of grid-scale ener-gy storage system batteries, inverters and other

hardware, lowering system costs and improving return on investment. We provide utilities, in-dependent power producers (IPPs), renewable energy facility owners and other energy storage customers with energy storage software, ener-gy storage system design services and turnkey energy storage system integration services.

Greensmith delivered one-third of the energy storage capacity installed in the United States in 2014, and our GEMS energy storage software platform is currently used by 19 customers for multiple applications at over 40 different sites, including the single largest battery-based pow-er system deployed globally in 2014, which pro-vides 24x7 frequency regulation services.

Greensmith’s current customers include large utilities in California and Virginia, national in-dependent power producers, and commercial scale solar developers.

ees: With 61.9 megawatts of new ener-gy storage coming online in 2014 in the USA, of which one-third was delivered by

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Greensmith, the company is a major driver in the national adoption of energy storage and a platform of choice to customers and partners leveraging a battery-agnostic, software-optimized and distributed net-work approach. What are the company’s future national and international ambi-tions?

First and foremost, Greensmith is focused on supporting the dramatic growth of grid-scale energy storage in North America. This growth has caused our sales pipeline over the last six months to triple to over half a gigawatt. In par-ticular, we are seeing this growth take place in states such as California, which has a high amount of renewable generation and a 1.3 me-gawatt procurement target under the AB 2514 energy storage bill.

However, we expect these same dynamics (renewable penetration and regulatory incen-tives) to result energy storage demand growth in other states as well. That said, demand for energy storage in Europe, Australia and Japan is also growing, driven by the need to integrate intermittent renewable energy resources into these grids, as well as (in Japan and Germany) the closure of nuclear power plants. In addition, we see long-term growth potential for energy storage in South Asia, Africa and many island nations, where greater adoption of grid-scale energy storage could help address energy po-verty, reduce energy costs, improve grid relia-bility and support greater adoption of solar and other renewable energy technologies.

ees: How is the demand structure of the distributed energy storage market evol-ving? What are the impacts on the indus-try and how is Greensmith responding to these changes?

A few years ago energy storage projects were often pilot projects. Now, utilities, independent power producers (IPPs), renewable energy facili-ty owners and other energy industry players are deploying energy storage because these sys-tems deliver a significant return on investment. That is why Boston Consulting Group expects energy storage to be a $400B market by 2020. This growth is primarily being driven by

» The increase in renewable energy genera-tion

» Regulatory mandates, such as AB 2514 in California, various NYSERDA Program Op-portunity Notices (PONs) in New York, and FERC order 755 nationally.

» Capacity challenges due to increased ener-gy usage and plant closures

» Declining energy storage technology costs

» The rising cost of electricity

Greensmith is responding to this growing de-mand by developing software and providing integration services to energy storage system developers who are responding to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from utilities, independent power providers, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies, Original Equip-ment Manufacturers (OEMs) and commercial and industrial customers.

ees: Could you summarize in 5 sentences the main grid application tasks of and for storage technology and its implementation?

Grid scale energy storage is being used to pro-vide grid balancing services such as frequency regulation and spinning reserves. It is also being used to provide grid reliability services such as peaker plant replacement and transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure investment de-ferral. Island grids are using grid-scale energy storage as a way to address their isolation, high energy costs, limited resources and dependence on intermittent renewable energy resources. Finally, microgrids are using grid-scale energy storage as a way to increase system resiliency in the face of intermittent (or no) grid availability.

ees: Do you see any clear market driver technologies and battery technologies re-garding the material side that will edge out the competition?

We see lithium-ion and its various chemistries gaining in popularity because of its flexibility, energy density and safety. Our perspective is borne out by current market data -- according to Lux Research lithium ion (Li-ion) battery tech-nology is dominating the emerging grid-tied storage market. In one of its reports published earlier this year, Lux stated that that 90 percent of proposed grid storage projects in 2014 are set to be supplied by Li-ion technology.

However, unlike solar, we don’t expect to see a convergence to a single battery technology. We need different batteries for different ap-plications, as some are more suited for power centric applications such as frequency regulati-on whereas others are better for energy-centric applications such as capacity shifting.

ees: What are the major challenges that will need to be faced by the energy sto-rage industry in order to exploit the full potential of the future?

If we hope to continue to see major market growth, the industry will need to continue to drive down costs – battery costs, other hardware


costs, and soft costs. The industry also needs to move beyond the battery, and recognize that other energy storage technologies (particularly software) play a key role in energy

Source: Greensmith

storage system performance and return on in-vestment. The industry also needs to avoid ad-opting a cookie-cutter to grid-scale energy sto-rage – these are complex systems, and such a simplistic approach is likely to result in system failures or sub-optimal deployments. Finally, the industry needs to continue to advocate for com-mon-sense regulations and incentives that en-courage energy storage deployment and, in so doing, result in the development of a cleaner, more reliable and more cost-effective grid.

ees: What role should politics play in the development of the U.S. energy storage market? Do you see the necessity of pro-tectionist measures in the storage sector?

Greensmith does not see the need for protec-tionist measures. The main role that we belie-ve government can play is in the enactment of forward-looking policies that encourage the de-velopment of a cleaner, more reliable and more cost-effective grid, and, in doing so, encourage further deployment of energy storage systems.

ees: What are major opportunities for the energy storage industry? What is the role of renewables and how can the industry accelerate the positive trend?

All signs are pointing to a period of extended growth in the energy storage industry, with re-newables representing a significant driver of this growth. Energy storage is uniquely positioned to address issues associated with increasing pene-

tration of renewables, including intermittency, the duck curve, backfeeding, renewable energy generation curtailment and grid instability. For

this reason, many utilities are proactively encou-raging the deployment of energy storage with solar installations. For instance, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has adopted minimum technical requirements (MTRs) that re-quire solar energy systems to incorporate energy storage in order to address ramp rate and other renewable energy issues.

The industry can support this trend and acce-lerate greater adoption of renewables by con-tinuing to reduce energy storage costs, impro-ving energy storage system performance and by educating policy makers and stakeholders about the benefits of energy storage.

ees: In your opinion, what are the most promising technologies in the distributed energy storage market at present and how are they transforming the market?

We think software is the most promising tech-nology in the distributed energy storage market. Software plays a critical role in the performance of grid-scale energy storage systems because these storage systems are complex to design, deploy, and operate. Each deployment is a “sys-tem of systems” that requires the integration of batteries (whose performance is nuanced and idiosyncratic) with inverters, other hardware and balance of plant. Each deployment is also unique and dependent on the environment and use case. Moreover, grid-scale energy storage systems must often perform multiple applica-tions - a single storage system might be used for

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energy-centric applications such as peak shif-ting at one point during a day and then transiti-on to power-centric applications like frequency regulation at another time.

Advanced energy storage management soft-ware addresses this complexity. It integrates all the components of an energy storage system and has optimization algorithms to extract the highest value from the hardware. It provides a way for energy storage developers and ow-ners to easily manage deployment while auto-matically fulfilling complex use cases, ensuring system scalability and optimizing system life expectancy. In addition, with energy storage management software, system owners can program their systems so that they can perform multiple applications and can manage a distri-buted fleet of geographically dispersed energy storage systems.

ees: Are there any obvious differences for battery storage technology applications between the US, the European and the Asian market? Different needs, different expectations regarding the customer’s po-sition, different challenges due to frame-work conditions, specific weather circum-stances etc.

When it comes to energy storage, there are more similarities than differences between the U.S., European and Asian markets.

All these markets face the same challenges as-sociated with grid balancing, reliability, stability, aging infrastructure, and retirement or closure of nuclear power plants.

In addition, all these regions are dealing with growing renewable energy penetration, driven

by government renewable energy incentive po-licies. For example, the EU has a target of 27 percent renewable energy generation by 2030 and 29 U.S. states have a renewable portfolio standard.

The U.S. is further ahead in terms of storage de-ployed and regulations that encourage storage growth but we’re already seeing movement in a similar direction in Europe. We’re also starting to see growing interest in storage in Asia, parti-cularly in Japan, where there has been closures of several nuclear plants.

ees: How will, in your opinion, the energy storage market look like in 2030?

We predict that in 2030 energy storage will be a mature and significant component of mo-dernized grid infrastructures around the glo-be. Markets will be leveraging energy storage systems for multiple applications as frequency regulation, capacity, ramp rate control, Trans-mission and Distribution (T&D) deferral and re-newables smoothing. Furthermore, storage will be dynamic, responding to actual grid conditions to provide stability and reliability. Sophisticated real-time decision engines will continuously mo-nitor grid status, intelligently reacting to mar-ket signals and forecasted weather conditions. In addition, utilities will use fleet management to manage distributed storage and coordinate with other energy assets such as PV solar power systems, traditional generation and load. «


Katrin Schirrmacher ees International

» Looking Ahead at Solar-Plus-Storage in the U.S.

The U.S. solar-plus-storage market is very nascent today, with less than 0.1 percent of solar installations were paired with storage in 2014. If anything the penetration rate of storage in solar installations has gone down year over year for the past three years, even if it has stayed flat in megawatts.

In spite of a tiny share of US end-customers em-bracing storage with their solar systems, the in-dustry activity has been frantic. In the first four months of 2015 alone, there have been at least eight partnerships and one acquisition involving solar and storage players to create new solar-plus-storage products or business models in the U.S. The complexion of the solar-plus-storage industry is changing rapidly with many new entrants and partnerships in an extremely short span of time.

These partnership activities reached a climax in April with Tesla’s announcement of new sto-rage products involving several solar players.

A lot of focus of solar-plus-storage has been in relation to its potential for grid defection or load defection. It is of course in part due to the fact that pairing storage with solar enables several benefits for the end-customer making them somewhat grid independent. What often gets left out in these discussions about defec-tion is the ability of solar-plus-storage to serve the grid. Most benefits are segment dependent - whether they are end-customer or grid-rela-ted. The two behind-the-meter segments (re-sidential and non-residential) access customer side benefits, and given the right market rules and policies, allow behind-the-meter solar-plus-storage customers to participate in grid services and access wholesale markets. The utility-scale segment solar-plus-storage has so far been in remote applications and microgrids.

We are at a cusp of the golden age where conti-nued cost reductions in both solar and storage, coupled with regulatory, policy and market changes, will drive up solar-plus-storage de-ployments. Let us take a look at the key trends

By Ravi ManghaniGreentech Media

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for all three segments that promises to set the industry in motion. Residential segment: Resi-dential solar-plus-storage market has historically been limited to off-grid and pure backup appli-cations. Net energy metering has been the in-centive structure of choice in the U.S. with over 30 states offering net energy metering at full retail rates to customers. As a result, customers have little incentive to store excess solar genera-tion for self-consumption, other than the use as backup. Additionally, a majority of residential customers are signed on flat retail rates, again resulting in no incentive for time-of-use shif-ting. In the last few months however, 21 states have considered or implemented rate reforms that reduce the value of solar export. Plus, there is a small but growing number of retail rate structures that have time-of-use elements.


These retail rate reforms that directly or indi-rectly related to solar open up the use of sto-rage with solar.

Non-residential segment: Non-residential custo-mers typically have time-of-use tariffs and de-mand charges, and that makes pairing solar with storage open to multiple value streams – demand charge reduction and time-of-use shif-ting. Many non-residential customers have elec-trical equipment that need high quality power supply, which storage can provide. Schools, government buildings and military establish-ments have greater resilient power needs for critical facilities. Several states in the east coast are promoting grid resiliency through upfront incentive programs, pilots, and loans to adapt



to extreme weather events and related power outages.

Utility segment: Almost all deployed utility so-lar-plus-storage plants have been on islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico. High solar penetration on island grids can cause operational challen-ges leading to ramp rate control and firm solar requirements or preferences. Utility solar pro-jects typically have long term power purchase agreements for solar generation with onsite or offsite off takers, or procured through direct utility contracts or RFPs. In these cases, adding storage can alleviate solar integration challen-ges for utilities and system operators. There is a case to be made for a higher PPA price for an output from a solar-plus-storage plant. Alterna-tively, some utilities and utility commissions may mandate ramp control or require firm solar out-put, as already required in Puerto Rico.

For each of the three segments, clear value pro-positions for solar-plus-storage are emerging, largely a consequence of growing solar pene-tration on grid operations and retail rate struc-tures.

In order to cover this increasingly important and evolving solar-plus-storage market, Inter-solar and CALSEIA have partnered with GTM Research to provide a snapshot of the market through a white paper titled ‘U.S. Solar-Plus-Storage Market: Drivers, Economics and Out-look.’ The white paper will be published in June 2015, accompanied by a webinar, and followed by a presentation at Intersolar North America. «

By Ravi Manghani Greentech Media

High solar penetration on island grids can cause operational

challenges

Source: © Rawpixel | fotolia.com

APPLICATION


Energy Storage System BELECTRIC EBU prequalified for frequency response BELECTRIC EBU meets the prequalification requirements and is thus able to provide most important balancing service for the electric grid

BELECTRIC’s Energy Buffer Unit (EBU) has been successfully prequalified for 1.3MW frequency response by the transmission network operator (TNO) 50Hertz.

The Energy Buffer Unit is thus officially approved for the provision of the most important ancillary service for grid operation: frequency response. Services from the EBU will be offered on the fre-quency response market on a weekly basis. The Solar Plant located in Alt Daber (Brandenburg) will assist a Germany-wide frequency control in the high voltage grid. Equipped with the latest storage technology, it constitutes a necessary component for a reliable grid operation incre-asingly influenced by renewable energies. With its Energy Buffer Unit, BELECTRIC delivers a state-of-the-art battery based energy storage system in a container solution. The EBU is ship-ped with power inverter and medium voltage transformer and features a nameplate power between 800kW and 1400kW, depending on configuration. It has a storage capacity of 948

Source: BELECTRIC Trading GmbH

kWh and is available starting at 560,000 EURO. It can be prequalified for frequency response on the German transmission network with up to 650 kW, taking into account reserve capacity required by the German TNOs. The advanced lead-acid batteries were developed for a long service life and high cycling stability for high performance applications.

The project is visible evidence that battery sto-rage improves the safety of transmission net-work operation, even during heavy fluctuations like a generator or interconnector trip. Now that the BELECTRIC EBU has successfully passed the necessary prequalification, Vattenfall can mar-ket the Alt Daber energy storage system as part of its frequency response pool. Due to rising prices in this market over the last three years, attractive business models are now appearing for the use of energy storage therein.

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

Self Consumption Home Solution! + High-e� icient Energy Battery+ Innovative Energy Management+ Energy Monitoring Solution = Clever Energy Cost Savings

Energy Depot GmbH Breitenaeckerliweg 118280 Kreuzlingen/Switzerland

Email: [email protected] www.energydepot.ch

My Home Battery


Battery Management Systems

BMZ GmbHAm Sportplatz 28-3063791 Karlstein, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 6188 99560Fax +49 (0) 6188 [email protected]

Deutsche Energieversorgung GmbHAm Schenkberg 1204349 Leipzig, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 34298 14190Fax +49 (0) 34298 [email protected]

FAKTOR GmbH technische TeileSpinnereiinsel 3D83059 Kolbermoor, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8031 2080023Fax +49 (0) 8071 [email protected]

Imeon Energy300, Rue Piere Rivoalon29200 Brest, FrancePhone +33 (0) 1 84 17 51 15Fax +33 (0) 9 55 66 66 [email protected]

KNUBIX GmbHBirkenstr. 488285 Bodnegg, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7520 966 7050Fax +49 (0) 7520 966 [email protected]

Leclanché GmbHIndustriestr. 177731 Willstätt, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7852 818 88Fax +49 (0) 7852 818 [email protected]

Mastervolt GmbHSnijdersbergweg 931105 AN Amsterdam, NetherlandsPhone +31 (0) 20 3422100Fax +31 (0) 20 [email protected]

MSTE SOLAR GmbHIn Oberwiesen 1688682 Salem, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7553 9180 [email protected]

Product Health Ltd.Smart, Connected BatteriesHackney, London E2 9DJPhone: +44 (0) 207 112 [email protected]: @producthealthwww.producthealth.com

Samil Power GmbHSiemensstr. 185716 Unterschleissheim-Lohhof, GermanyPhone + 49 (0) 89 8563341-10Fax + 49 (0) 89 [email protected]

SMA Solar Technology AGSonnenallee 134266 Niestetal, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 561 9522-0Fax +49 (0) 561 [email protected]

SolarEdge TechnologiesWerner-Eckert-Str.681829 Munich, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 89 45 45 97-0Fax +49 (0) 89 45 45 [email protected]/

Solutronic Energy GmbHKüferstr. 1873257 Köngen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7024 96128 -0Fax +49 (0) 7024 [email protected]

Sonnenbatterie GmbHAm Riedbach 187499 Wildpoldsried, GermanyPhone Tel: +49 (0) 8304 92933-400Fax: +49 (0) 8304 [email protected]

Wind & Sun Technologies SL (Group)FeCon GmbHEckernförder Landstr. 7824941 Flensburg, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 461 430 122 0Fax +49 (0) 461 430 122 [email protected]

Battery Testing, Inspection, Safety

DYNAMIS Batterien GmbHBrühlstr. 1578465 Dettingen / Konstanz, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7533 93669-0Fax +49 (0) 7533 [email protected]


Gustav Klein GmbH & Co. KGIm Forchet 386956 Schongau, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8861 209-0Fax +49 (0) 8861 209 [email protected]

» Business Directory

» Conferences & ExhibitionsJun 10 - 12, 2015 | Munich | Germany ees Europe, Messe München www.ees-europe.com | [email protected]

Jun 10 - 12, 2015 | Munich | Germany Intersolar Europe, Messe München www.intersolar.de | [email protected]

Jun 23 - 24, 2015 | Dar es Salaam | Tanzania 2nd Sub-Saharan African Solar Summit 2015, Golden Tulip Hotel www.magenta-global.com.sg/sub-saharan-africa-solar-energy-storage-battery-summit | [email protected]

Jul 7 - 8, 2015 | San Diego | USA Energy Storage USA 2015, Hilton San Diego Mission Valley www.energystorageupdate.com/usa | [email protected]

Jul 14 - 16, 2015 | San Francisco, CA | USA Intersolar North America, Moscone Center www.intersolar.us | [email protected] ees North America: a special exhibition at Intersolar North America www.ees-northamerica.com | [email protected]

Sep 1 - 3, 2015 | São Paulo | Brasil Intersolar South America 2015, Expo Center Norte / Yellow Pavilion www.intersolar.net.br | [email protected]

Oct 7 - 8, 2015 | Melbourne | Australia All-Energy Australia 2015, Convention & Exhibition Centre www.all-energy.com.au | [email protected]

Nov 2 - 4, 2015 | Riyadh | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Intersolar Summit Middle East, Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center – RICEC www.intersolar-summit.com | [email protected]

Nov 18 - 20, 2015 | Mumbai BEC | India Intersolar India, Bombay Exhibtion Center www.intersolar.in | [email protected] ees India: a special exhibition at Intersolar India


Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)Kaiserstraße 1276131 Karlsruhe, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 721 [email protected]

NETZSCH-Gerätebau GmbHPhone: +49 9287 881 398 Fax: +49 9287 881 505e-mail: [email protected]

Charging Technology


Gustav Klein GmbH & Co. KGIm Forchet 386956 Schongau, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8861 209-0Fax +49 (0) 8861 209 [email protected]

Imeon Energy300, Rue Piere Rivoalon29200 Brest, FrancePhone +33 (0) 1 84 17 51 15Fax +33 (0) 9 55 66 66 [email protected]


Morningstar Corporation8 Pheasant Run18940 Newtown, PA, USAPhone +1 215 321-4457Fax +1 215 [email protected]

MSTE SOLAR GmbHIn Oberwiesen 1688682 Salem, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7553 9180 [email protected]

Phocos AGMagirus-Deutz-Straße 1289077 Ulm, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 731 9380 688-0Fax +49 (0) 731 9380 [email protected]

SolarEdge TechnologiesWerner-Eckert-Str.681829 Munich, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 89 45 45 97-0Fax +49 (0) 89 45 45 [email protected]/

Solutronic Energy GmbHKüferstr. 1873257 Köngen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7024 96128 -0Fax +49 (0) 7024 [email protected]

Steca Elektronik GmbHMammostr. 187700 Memmingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8331 8558-100Fax +49 (0) 8331 [email protected]

Studer Innotec SARue des Casernes 571950 Sion, SwitzerlandPhone +41 (0) 27 20560-80Fax +41 (0) 27 [email protected]


Electrochemical: Batteries

ads-tec GmbHHeinrich-Hertz-Str. 172622 Nürtingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7022 2522-0Fax +49 (0) 7022 [email protected]

BAE Batterien GmbHWilhelminenhofstraße 69/7012459 Berlin, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 30 53001-661Fax +49 (0) 30 [email protected]

Deutsche Energieversorgung GmbHAm Schenkberg 1204349 Leipzig, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 34298 14190Fax +49 (0) 34298 [email protected]



FIAMM S.p.A.Viale Europa 7536075 Montecchio Maggiore (Vicenza), ItalyPhone +39 0444 7093 11Fax +39 0444 6941 [email protected]

INCI AKÜ SAN. VE TIC. A.S.Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 2. Kism Gaziler Cad. No:645030 Manisia, TurkeyPhone +90 (0) 236 2332510Fax +90 (0) 236 2332513www.inciaku.com

Leclanché GmbHIndustriestr. 177731 Willstätt, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7852 818 88Fax +49 (0) 7852 818 [email protected]

Sinopoly BatteryRms 3001-3005, 30 F, China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai- Hong Kong, ChinaPhone +86 (0) 852 3104 2803Fax +86 (0) 852 2877 [email protected]

Systems Sunlight SAErmou 2 & Nikis Street, Syntagma Square10563 Athens, Attica, GreecePhone +30 (0)2106245400Fax +30 (0)[email protected]

Vanadis Power GmbHZeltnerstr. 390443 Nürnberg, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 911 8819 7218Fax +49 (0) 911 8819 [email protected]

Flow Batteries

Vanadis Power GmbHZeltnerstr. 390443 Nürnberg, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 911 8819 7218Fax +49 (0) 911 8819 [email protected]

Hydrogen, Methane (Chemical Energy Storage/ Power to Gas)

AEG Power Solutions GmbHEmil-Siepmann-Str. 3259581 Warstein, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 2902 763-0Fax +49 (0) 2902 [email protected]

Manufacturing Equipment, Materials and Components

Frezite - Equipamentos Energéticos & Ambiente, Lda.Rua do Vau, 323 - Apartado 1344786-909 Trofa, PortugalPhone +351 (0) 252 400 758Fax +351 (0) 252 401 [email protected]


Morningstar Corporation8 Pheasant Run18940 Newtown, PA, USAPhone +1 215 321-4457Fax +1 215 [email protected]

Phocos AGMagirus-Deutz-Straße 1289077 Ulm, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 731 9380 688-0Fax +49 (0) 731 9380 [email protected]

Steca Elektronik GmbHMammostr. 187700 Memmingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8331 8558-100Fax +49 (0) 8331 [email protected]

Studer Innotec SARue des Casernes 571950 Sion, SwitzerlandPhone +41 (0) 27 20560-80Fax +41 (0) 27 [email protected]


Mobile Applications

BMZ GmbHAm Sportplatz 28-3063791 Karlstein, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 6188 99560Fax +49 (0) 6188 [email protected]


Product Health Ltd.Smart, Connected BatteriesHackney, London E2 9DJPhone: +44 (0) 207 112 [email protected]: @producthealthwww.producthealth.com

REFU Elektronik GmbHREFUenergyMarktstrasse 18572793 Pfullingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7121 4332 0Fax +49 (0) 7121 4332 140www.refu-energy.de

Others

IBESAAdenauerallee 13453113 Bonn, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 228 91743-0Fax +49 (0) 228 [email protected]

Solar Promotion GmbHKiehnlestr. 1675172 Pforzheim, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7231 58598-0Fax +49 (0) 7231 [email protected]


» PublishingPublished by:

Website:

Editor in Chief:

Managing Editor:

Editors:

Authors:

Editorial Office:

Design & Realisation:

Printed by:

Solar Promotion International GmbH

www.ees-magazine.com

Sabine Kloos (sk)[email protected]

Katrin Schirrmacher (kas)[email protected]

Sabine Kloos (sk), Katrin Schirrmacher (kas), Simin Werner (sw), Angeline Rast (ar), Sara Piludu (sp), Miriam Foukis (mf)

Simin Werner, Katrin Schirrmacher, Jonathan Cohen, Angeline Rast, James J. Greenberger, Ken-Ichi Hino, Daniel Gabaldon, Abid Kazim, Christophe Goasguen, Markus Müller, Simon C. Mueller, Prof. Andreas Jossen, Prof. Isabell M. Welpe, Ross Bruton, Anil Srivastava, Dirk Spiers, Bryan Godber , Nicolas Schmutz, John Jung

Solar Promotion International GmbHEditorial Office: ees InternationalKiehnlestr. 1675172 PforzheimPhone +49 (0)7231/58598-0Fax +49 (0)7231/[email protected]

Zeynep Kar, 360|ConceptKlaudia Schmiejka, 360|ConceptStefanie Becker, 360|Concept

Stark-Druck GmbH + Co. KG, Pforzheim

Gaby LajtkepPhone +49 (0)7231/[email protected] Media Data 2014 are valid.

The entire publication and all contents are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or any means electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, online publication, as well as duplication on data media, etc. without the prior written permission of the publisher. Contributed articles and articles signed by an author are the full responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial office and the publisher. The editorial department will not be liable for unsolicited send in manuscripts, images, etc. The editors reserve the right to abbreviate letters to the editor without changing the intended meaning.

Solar Promotion International GmbH owns unattributed photos and graphics.

Image sources: © Imillian | fotolia.com - © Solar Promotion GmbH - © Rawpixel Yolshin | fotolia.com - © freshidea | fotolia.com - © thinglass | fotolia.com

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Your feedback on ees International – The Electrical Energy Storage Magazine is welcome. Please share your opinion with us and send an e-mail to: [email protected]. You may also send your feedback to the editorial office referring to Editorial Office: ees International.

Recycling Technology for Batteries/ Second-Use Concepts/Technology

Wemag AGObotritenring 4019053 Schwerin, GermanyPhone +49 (0) [email protected]

Research and Development, Service Provider

DCTI Deutsches CleanTech Institut GmbHAdenauerallee 13453113 Bonn, GermanyPhone +49(0)228-97143-0Fax +49(0)[email protected]

emobilserver (Heindl Server GmbH)Kaiserstr. 13772764 Reutlingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7121 69681 30Fax +49 (0) 7121 69681 [email protected]

EuPD ResearchAdenauerallee 13453113 Bonn, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 228 97143-0Fax +49 (0) 228 [email protected]

Frezite - Equipamentos Energéticos & Ambiente, Lda.Rua do Vau, 323 - Apartado 1344786-909 Trofa, PortugalPhone +351 (0) 252 400 758Fax +351 (0) 252 401 [email protected]

Stationary Applications

ads-tec GmbHHeinrich-Hertz-Str. 172622 Nürtingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7022 2522-0Fax +49 (0) 7022 [email protected]

AEG Power Solutions GmbHEmil-Siepmann-Str. 3259581 Warstein, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 2902 763-0Fax +49 (0) 2902 [email protected]

Alpha ESS Europe GmbHPaul Ehrlich Str. 1a63225 Langen (Germany)Phone +49 (0) 6103 45916-0Fax +49 (0) 6103 [email protected] ESS Smarten Your Energy

BAE Batterien GmbHWilhelminenhofstraße 69/7012459 Berlin, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 30 53001-661Fax +49 (0) 30 [email protected]


FIAMM S.p.A.Viale Europa 7536075 Montecchio Maggiore (Vicenza), ItalyPhone +39 0444 7093 11Fax +39 0444 6941 [email protected]

INCI AKÜ SAN. VE TIC. A.S.Organize Sanayi Bölgesi 2. Kism Gaziler Cad. No:645030 Manisia, TurkeyPhone +90 (0) 236 2332510Fax +90 (0) 236 2332513www.inciaku.com

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)Kaiserstraße 1276131 Karlsruhe, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 721 [email protected]

KNUBIX GmbHBirkenstr. 488285 Bodnegg, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7520 966 7050Fax +49 (0) 7520 966 [email protected]

REFU Elektronik GmbHREFUenergyMarktstrasse 18572793 Pfullingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7121 4332 0Fax +49 (0) 7121 4332 140www.refu-energy.de

Sonnenbatterie GmbHAm Riedbach 187499 Wildpoldsried, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 8304 92933-400Fax +49 (0) 8304 [email protected]

Systems Sunlight SAErmou 2 & Nikis Street, Syntagma Square10563 Athens, Attica, GreecePhone +30 (0)2106245400Fax +30 (0)[email protected]


Trade Publications, Publishers

ees International - The Electrical Energy Storage Magazinec/o Solar Promotion International GmbHKiehnlestr. 1675172 Pforzheim, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7231 58598-0Fax +49 (0) 7231 [email protected]

emobilserver (Heindl Server GmbH)Kaiserstr. 13772764 Reutlingen, GermanyPhone +49 (0) 7121 69681 30Fax +49 (0) 7121 69681 [email protected]

DISCOVER THE WORLD OF INTERSOLAR

Intersolar North America | San Francisco | July 14–16, 2015

Intersolar South America | São Paulo | September 1–3, 2015

Intersolar India | Mumbai | November 18–20, 2015

Intersolar China | Beijing | March 29–31, 2016

Intersolar Europe | Munich | June 22–24, 2016

Discover the World’s Leading Exhibition Series for the Solar Industrywww.intersolarglobal.com

ISGlobal2015_ees International_210x297_Layout 1 18.05.15 16:32 Seite 1

Behind-the-Meter Energy Storage: CellCube Storage Systems.

CellCube – energy storage for demand-charge management and lower energy costs.

Combined use of peak shaving and emergency power supply through

reliable vanadium redox flow technology. The energy storage

system CellCube stores energy until it is needed. What is more, it

is capable of scaling to multi hour and multi megawatt size.

Whether in combination with PV systems, wind generation,

diesel, gas or biogas generators, or operated in parallel to the

public grid – the CellCube meets your demand needs, enables

renewable integration on the grid, provides distribution deferral,

and fulfills resiliency needs.

We will be happy to support you – please contact us for your

individual offer: [email protected]

GENERATESAVE STORE UTILISE

GILDEMEISTER energy solutions GmbHCarl-Zeiss-Str. 4, 97076 Wuerzburg, Germany, T +49 (0) 931 250 64 -120, F +49 (0) 931 250 64 [email protected], www.energy.gildemeister.com

CELLCUBE HIGHLIGHTS

• More than 100 installations worldwide

• Min. 20 years service life

• Scalable to the MW-range

• Unlimited cycling

• Highest residual value propo sition amongst battery powered

energy storage systems

• Lowest cost per MWh

• Ideally used with individual energy data,

e.g. Green Button Data

• High level of safety, non-flammable, non-explosive

• 100 % depth of discharge capable

• Holistic system solution, including specially adapted inverters,

allowing connection to different energy sources

Visit us at:Level 2

Booth 8211

Certified through:

CellCube application with 400 kW power and 1600 kWh capacity

ES 01947 1505 Inserat CellCube + Utility 150526 RZ.indd 1 26.05.15 12:43

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