Enel awarded 2.1 million US dollar grants to support Energy Storage development in US
Two projects developed by Enel were awarded grants totalling around 2.1 million US dollars from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to support the state’s growing energy storage market
The projects include a behind-the-meter micro-grid to be installed at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a battery storage system to be deployed at the Acton Boxborough Regional School District
These are Enel’s first micro-grid project and stand-alone battery storage project in Massachusetts, home to Enel’s North American headquarters
Both projects will utilise DEN.OSTM software to optimise project benefits across different applications providing both grid services and bill savings
Rome – Enel S.p.A. (“Enel”) announced today that two of its distributed energy projects have been selected to receive grants, totalling around 2.1 million US dollars, from the Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage (“ACES”) programme administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (“MassCEC”). These are Enel’s first distributed energy projects in Massachusetts, home to the Group’s North American headquarters, and consist of a behind-the-meter micro-grid and a battery storage system.
The grants, which are part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Energy Storage Initiative, are aimed at promoting increased commercialisation and deployment of storage technologies in Massachusetts.
“We are very glad to work with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and our project partners to explore how storage can best deliver long-term value to utilities and local communities,” said Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel X. “The convergence of renewable energy, distributed energy resources, and demand response services is a prime opportunity to provide valuable services to the grid and cut overall energy costs. These two grants are a testament to the forward-thinking approach, both in terms of technology and business model, that Enel together with its project partners is taking to create value for customers and the energy system as a whole.”
Enel’s US renewables subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (“EGPNA”) partnered with the University of Massachusetts Boston (“UMass Boston”) on a project proposal for a behind-the-meter micro-grid which was awarded an 850,000 US dollar grant. The project comprises a 0.5 MW/1.82 MWh lithium-ion energy storage system integrated with a 0.5 MW solar photovoltaic facility to be deployed at the University’s campus in Boston.
Enel’s US subsidiary EnerNOC was awarded 1.25 million US dollars, the maximum award granted by the ACES programme, to support its proposal to deploy a 2 MW/4 MWh lithium-ion energy storage system to be installed at the Acton Boxborough Regional School District (“ABRSD”).
Both projects combine behind-the-meter demand charge management and in front of the meter, demand response applications, creating multiple revenue streams for the parties involved, while also generating benefits for the grid in terms of reliability and balancing.
The projects will be managed through the DEN.OSTM software, developed by Enel’s US subsidiary Demand Energy Networks, optimising project benefits across a variety of applications, such as the management of facility demand and system peak charges thus providing significant bill savings. At the same time, the software will enable increased grid resiliency and stabilization through the projects’ enrollment in the capacity, energy and ancillary services markets of the regional transmission organisation ISO New England.
In addition, the two projects will serve as laboratories offering a variety of educational opportunities, such as project demonstrations and educational tours, to both UMass Boston and ABRSD.
These projects are in line with Enel’s growing focus on providing customers with flexibility services including demand response, storage and micro-grid solutions. Moreover, they strengthen Enel’s energy storage capacity in the US and support the company’s early moveinto the growing Massachusetts energy storage market, which seeks to add 200 MWh of energy storage by 2020.
About Enel
Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global, power, gas and renewables markets. It is Europe’s largest utility in terms of market capitalization and figures among Europe’s leading power companies in terms of installed capacity and reported EBITDA. The Group is present in over 30 countries worldwide, producing energy with more than 86 GW of managed capacity. Enel distributes electricity and gas through a network of over 2 million kilometres, and with over 65 million business and household customers globally, the Group has the largest customer base among European competitors. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power already manages around 40 GW of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Enel, through EGPNA, is a leading owner and operator of renewables facilities in North America with projects operating and under development in 23 US states and two Canadian provinces. EGPNA operates over 100 plants with a managed capacity exceeding 3.6 GW of hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar energy. In January 2017, Enel, through EGPNA, acquired the US-based company specialized in intelligent software and energy storage systems Demand Energy Networks, while in August it completed the acquisition of EnerNOC, a leading provider of demand response and energy management services for utility, commercial, institutional and industrial customers. Finally, in October Enel, through EnerNOC, acquired California-based eMotorWerks, a leading North American supplier of JuiceBox electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and owner and operator of JuiceNet, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for the smart management of EV charging and other distributed energy storage facilities.
Source: enel
