Page 66 - North American Clean Energy July August 2015

energy storage

POWER-SEAL PM/PH SERIES

High Performance Butterfly Valves

at their best

when things

HEAT up!

Energy Storage

The next leap forward for

renewables in California

by Mike Hopkins

CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN A LEADER in the adoption of
renewable energy. Jurisdictions aggressively adopting
renewables are all becoming increasingly aware of three

problems.
First, is the intermittent nature of both wind and solar
generation. he second, is the timing problem which occurs
when energy is generated and available, but not needed. For

example, the majority of wind generation occurs at night
when overall demand is greatly reduced. hird, is generation
sources not visible to the utility; customer-owned solar
generation has seen signiicant growth but these sources

are not controlled or managed by the utility. hese three
• Thru-Shaft design
problems jeopardize the reliability of grid, keep the grid
• Live loaded packing
dependent on fossil fuel generation, and ultimately limit
the degree to which renewables can replace fossil fuel
• Temperatures to 900oF
(1100o with Inconel Seat)
generation.
• 150#/300# ANSI/ASME California policymakers recognized that energy storage
in stock 2”-36”, with was the missing piece required to maximize the adoption of

48” available
renewables. For this reason, in 2013, the state stepped out
ahead of everyone with its energy storage mandate. Storage
being the key to unlocking the potential of renewables was
obvious enough; if energy that is intermittently produced,

and oftentimes generated when it’s not needed, can’t
be reliably stored, then that energy can’t be properly used, and the grid remains dependent on fossil fuel
generation.
Mandating storage in 2013 was a bold move. It was not clear that energy storage was ready for prime

time in terms of cost and reliability. Critics made the case that the mandate would force the procurement
of expensive and unreliable storage, drive up the cost of electricity to consumers, drive businesses out of
9955 International Boulevard California, kill jobs, and so on.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
California policy makers took the opposite view, just as they had done with the Renewable Portfolio

(513) 247-5465
Standard (RPS). hey made a bold move, reasoning that in the same way that the RPS created a market for
FAX (513) 247-5462 renewable energy, drew in competition, attracted capital, and drove down costs, the storage mandate would
[email protected] similarly, draw in competition, attract capital, and drive down costs. It is still early days for the storage
www.a-tcontrols.com
mandate but indications from the irst mandated procurement make the bold move look smart and well-timed.

66 JULY/AUGUST 2015
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