What are the challenges of procurement for utility-side storage & solar-plus projects?

The challenges of procurement for utility-side storage and solar-plus projects center largely on early-stage decisions: defining the top-priority use case, but also exploring ways to get more value out of the project and to prepare for market changes over its life.

What is a battery energy storage system checklist?

Checklist provides federal agencies with a standard set of tasks, questions, and reference points to assist in the early stages of battery energy storage systems (BESS) project development.

How can battery storage improve solar energy production?

Note rising interest in value streams that are locally realized, e.g., time-shifting to balance rising distributed energy resources (DERs) locally. Battery storage can prevent solar over-production, while facilitating local high-renewables goals. It also may sometimes defer the need for a distribution upgrade (non-wires alternative).

How do energy storage contracts work?

For standalone energy storage contracts, these are typically structured with a fixed monthly capacity payment plus some variable cost per megawatt hour (MWh) of throughput. For a combined renewables-plus-storage project, it may be structured with an energy-only price in lieu of a fixed monthly capacity payment.

Who led the energy storage project in North Carolina?

Cliburn and Associates, LLC, led the project team, including North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC), Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, United Power, and stakeholders from other co-ops and public power utilities and wholesale suppliers, market experts, and the energy storage industry.

Are solar manufacturers circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty orders?

The solar market was further constrained by an ongoing petition before the US Department of Commerce alleging that certain solar manufacturers in Southeast Asia were circumventing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on solar cells and modules from China.