But a vexing problem is storing and banking that produced energy when it’s needed most for consumers during peak times. Wind power is intermittent, meaning the wind doesn’t necessary blow when there’s high demand for power. The same is true for hydropower, especially amid California’s ongoing, multi-year drought.
Energy providers are betting big that next-gen energy storage technology will help bridge that disconnect between supply and demand, and enable the state to take its smart grid to the next level.
On Thursday, the California Independent System Operator (CalISO), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) unveiled a roadmap identifying barriers to adding energy storage to the state grid and discussing next steps to overcome them. The collaborative document was written with input from 400 stakeholders, including utilities, technology companies, power generators and environmental groups.
The roadmap addresses three major obstacles: revenue opportunities, cost, and policies and processes.
“While many organizations are testing energy storage technologies and systems, a comprehensive plan is needed to incorporate storage projects into the state’s grid at scale,” the roadmap says.
In 2013 Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation enabling CPUC to set a target requiring California’s investor-owned utilities to have 1.3 GW in energy storage technology online by 2024. Several utilities are piloting the technology, which can involve anything from conventional and advanced batteries to flywheels, electrochemical capacitors and superconducting magnetic energy storage, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
One prominent example is PG&E, which is testing the 4 megawatt Yerba Buena Battery Energy Storage System in the San Jose foothills.
“The roadmap is a foundation to integrate energy storage technologies that benefits grid reliability and consumers throughout the West,” said California Independent System Operator CEO Steve Berberich. “This document details specific actions needed to optimize this maturing technology.”
This story originally appeared on our sister site Techwire.net
