On September 5, the China Energy Storage Alliance Held its first webinar event, “Introducing the California Energy Storage Market.” The hour-long webinar was hosted by George Dudley of CNESA, with guest panelists Melanie Davidson, Director of Marketing at Strategen Consulting, and Terry Maddox, Principal Manager of Generation for Eastern Operations at Southern California Edison. The webinar content included an overview of the California energy storage market, an introduction to SCE’s Center Hybrid energy storage facility, and highlights from the upcoming Energy Storage North America conference.
Melanie Davidson begin the webinar by providing background on the current state of California’s energy storage market, highlighting some of the factors that have contributed to the growth of energy storage in the state. California currently possesses 717MW of operational energy storage capacity, with 463 MW of approved additional capacity on the way. Northern California electricity provider PG&E has also recently announced a procurement target of 567MW of energy storage, the largest such procurement goal ever released. Recent government developments of note include SB 700, a bill that will continue funding for SGIP until 2025, providing an additional 800 million USD of funding for storage incentives in California. The bill has already passed the state senate and is currently waiting for approval by governor Jerry Brown. An additional bill of note awaiting approval is SB 100, landmark legislation to commit California to 100% renewable energy by 2045. Should both bills be approved by the governor, California can expect to see significant growth in both front-of-the meter and behind-the-meter energy storage systems.
Melanie also provided information on the Energy Storage North America 2018 conference, to take place this November 6-8 in Pasadena. The event will feature three days of forums, workshops, and expo events. Pre-conference workshops include “Energy Storage 101,” “Trends in the Electric Power Industry and the Growing Role for Energy Storage,” “Best Practices in Utility Procurement of Energy Storage,” and others. The seven forum tracks include such themes as “Mobility and Storage,” “Advanced Solutions,” “Microgrids, Resiliency, and Security,” and “North American Market Transformation.” This year’s site tour program includes 8 different centers and installations, including Proterra’s West Coast Battery-Electric Bus Manufacturing Facility, the Romeo Power Manufacturing Facility, LADWP Beacon Solar Plant and Beacon Energy Storage System, and a variety of other tours. The ESNA conference is one of the largest energy storage events in North America, and the can’t-miss event for industry members. More information on the event can be found on the official website at esnaexpo.com.
Terry Maddox of Southern California Edison followed with an introduction to SCE and in-depth look at the Center Hybrid facility. Southern California Edison is one of the largest electricity providers in California, providing 87TWh of energy annually to 15 million customers. The Center Hybrid facility combines a 10MW/4.3MWh battery energy storage system with a 50MW traditional gas-fired peaking unit. The facility cuts down on greenhouse gases, provides 50MW of operating reserve, instant response, primary frequency response, and black start capabilities. The battery component helps lower fuel consumption, reduces system costs, and increases customer value. The Center Hybrid facility is one of two such systems, both of which have been extremely successful so far. Following Terry’s presentation, the webinar concluded with a brief question and answer session.
The webinar event also served to highlight CNESA’s planned visit to the Energy Storage North America Conference in November 2018. CNESA will be bringing a group of China’s energy storage industry delegates to the Los Angeles area November 5-12 to participate in the ESNA forum and expo events, while also touring additional sites in the Los Angeles area. The event hopes to provide opportunity for exchange between industry members in the United States and China, fostering understanding of the most recent updates in the global energy storage markets, and building new international business relationships.
China Energy Storage Alliance hopes to host more webinar events in the future, providing a chance for our energy storage colleagues in China and abroad to connect with one another and learn more about the latest energy storage technology, applications, and market trends around the world.
Click below to view the recording of the webinar: