Trends, Reports & Analyses
Co-ops Raising Use of Energy Storage
Rural electric cooperatives, which serve many areas rich in wind and solar potential, increasingly are using energy storage as a means of integrating these variable resources into their systems, according to an NRECA executive.
NRECA’s Dave Mohre explains how electric co-ops are using grid-scale energy storage to improve system operations. (Photo By: Todd H. Cunningham)
“Farming these lands involves capturing the wind and solar,” said Dave Mohre, executive director of the association’s energy and power division, at a Feb. 9 National Electricity Forum session.
Co-ops use both grid-scale and distributed energy storage to shape their loads—scheduling and operating generating resources to meet changing load levels—and physically hedge wholesale market risks, Mohre reported. This allows them to optimize their use of variable, renewable resources.
Electricity storage also enables co-ops to avoid increased base-load generation operations and maintenance costs and forced outage rates caused by such intermittent resources, he added.
Mohre briefed session participants on existing and planned co-op storage efforts around the country, ranging from a three-unit, 848-megawatt pumped hydro project at Oglethorpe Power Corp., Tucker, Ga., to smaller, megawatt-size battery storage installations in Minnesota, Alaska and Hawaii.
The reason that energy storage is not widespread today is cost-related, said session participant Tom Stepien, CEO of Primus Power, a storage systems manufacturer. “It’s still cheaper to make an electron than to store it.”
Session moderator Mark Ferron, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission, also raised what he termed “the money question.” How do you create financial incentives for storage projects?
Mohre responded that co-ops have received no such inducements, “except the incentive of keeping the lights on and consumer costs low.”
“Co-ops want to get technology costs as low as possible,” the NRECA representative explained. “But they don’t want short-term incentives to drive a particular solution.”
To sign up for the latest Industry news alerts, click here.