There’s no doubt that 2014 was a breakout year for grid energy storage -- and if the industry plays its cards right, it could lay the groundwork for a lot more breakout years to come. Over the past twelve months, we’ve seen the creation of some of the first utility contracts for distributed, behind-the-meter battery deployments at a mass scale, many of them linked with rooftop solar. Prices for lithium-ion batteries keep falling, and new technologies are coming in to fill the gaps. And despite some well-publicized flameouts, the industry is moving past pilot stage and making a play for full-scale commercialization.
So what were the biggest energy storage stories of the past year? Here are our top ten picks, starting with the state that set the bar for developments this year -- California. There’s no other place in the world that’s pushing the market in so many different directions. Indeed, the state's 1.3-gigawatts-by-2020 mandate, which seemed bold when passed in 2013, is now being surpassed in the near term by projects from transmission scale to distributed, behind-the-meter solar and EV-linked systems.
1) If we had to pick one California grid storage event of 2014 as the most important, it would be Southern California Edison's Local Capacity Procurement (LCR) for its power-constrained West Los Angeles Basin region. In a big show of support for energy storage as a cost-effective, long-term resource, SCE in November procured 250 megawatts of storage, more than five times its mandated requirement. SCE’s picks also included a broad mix of storage assets, from distributed batteries and ice-making air conditioners, to the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery, and a tight focus on solving very local distribution grid needs, as well as achieving the utility’s long-term goals.
greentechmedia