Shared assets in “portfolio” microgrid at Peña
Station NEXT increase grid resilience and reliability
A Panasonic-led solar-plus-storage microgrid at Peña Station
NEXT (Peña), a 382-acre smart city development in Denver, has been
named an Energy Storage North America (ESNA) 2017 Innovation Awards
finalist. This industry accolade follows on the heels of the
microgrid earning an Environmental Leader 2017 Top Project of the
Year award earlier this month. Project partners include Panasonic
Enterprise Solutions Company, Xcel Energy, Denver International
Airport, LC Fulenwider, Inc., and Younicos. Partners share
microgrid assets and benefits in a multi-stakeholder “portfolio”
model that helps the utility modernize and manage its electricity
grid with innovative technologies, aids grid integration of solar
PV, strengthens resilience (including through backup power) for
customers and critical loads, and supports the sustainability goals
of diverse organizations.
ESNA, the largest industry event for policy, technology, and
market leaders in the energy storage industry, organizes the annual
Innovation Awards to recognize projects that are helping to
transform the energy storage ecosystem by enabling the transition
to a clean, affordable, resilient, and reliable power grid and
opening new markets for energy storage. Finalists were selected
based on projects’ impact on this ecosystem, including services
supplied to customers and the grid and unique technology
applications. Eight finalists in two categories—Centralized Storage
(utility-scale) and Distributed Storage (commercial, industrial or
residential)—are competing through July 7 to win the award for
their category. Winners will be determined solely through public
voting and announced at the upcoming ESNA Conference and Expo, held
August 8–10 in San Diego.
“Recognition from ESNA’s prestigious Innovation Awards validates
our approach to unlocking the potential of energy storage solutions
and renewably powered microgrids,” said George Karayannis, VP of
CityNOW, Panasonic’s North American smart city initiative that is a
driving force for a comprehensive suite of smart and sustainable
solutions deployed at transit-oriented development Peña Station
NEXT. “What makes this project so unique is how we’re leveraging
multiple value streams and sharing assets in a multi-stakeholder
public-private partnership model that brings together utilities,
cities, technology companies, and other partners.”
Where many microgrids are utilized by a single entity (e.g.,
military, corporate, or college campuses), the portfolio microgrid
at Peña includes a set of assets that are shared between
stakeholders:
- 1.6 MWdc carport solar photovoltaic
(PV) system
- 259 kWdc rooftop solar PV array atop
Panasonic’s facility
- Anchor electricity load at Panasonic’s
Technology and Business Solutions Center
- 1 MW / 2MWh lithium-ion battery energy
storage system (BESS)
- Switching/control systems to operate
the BESS and microgrid functionality
As an example of the portfolio model for sharing microgrid
assets, Denver International Airport owns the parking lot and
carport structure at Peña; Xcel Energy owns and operates the solar
PV system atop the structure under a long-term lease; and Panasonic
performs the operations and maintenance on the system.
The BESS, owned and operated by Xcel Energy, leverages the
microgrid assets to perform a stack of five distinct but
complementary use cases that aid grid integration of solar energy,
improve power quality and reliability for C&I customers like
Panasonic, and improve operations of Xcel Energy’s distribution
grid. The ability to stack value streams through a multi-use
microgrid strengthens project economics, even in advance of
continued cost declines for battery energy storage.
“Recent years have seen a number of substantial advancements and
innovative deployments with battery energy storage,” said Jamie
Evans, managing director of the Energy Solutions Group at Panasonic
Enterprise Solutions. “We’re honored to be included among award
finalists that include such notable achievements as grid-scale
storage to offset California’s Aliso Canyon gas leak, SDG&E’s
project tapping energy storage as a reliable peaking resource, and
an urban microgrid in Brooklyn, NY.”
The announcement of ESNA Innovation Award finalists comes as the
U.S. energy storage market experienced its largest quarter to date.
According to GTM Research, in Q1 2017 the U.S. deployed 234 MWh of
energy storage, compared to 336 MWh of storage deployment in all of
2016.
Voting for the 2017 Innovation Awards will remain open through
July 7 via the ESNA website: https://esnaexpo.com/awards/voting.
One vote per user will count toward the final results.
About Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company
Denver-based Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company includes
CityNOW, Panasonic’s North American smart city initiative, and the
Energy Solutions Group, which focuses on large-scale solar PV
project development and integrated energy solutions for telecom.
Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company is a wholly-owned business
unit of Newark, NJ-based Panasonic Corporation of North America, a
leading technology partner and integrator to businesses, government
agencies, and consumers across the region. The company is the
principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic
Corporation and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing,
sales, service, and R&D operations. Panasonic was featured in
Fortune Magazine’s 2016 ranking of 50 companies that are changing
the world and doing well by doing good. Specifically cited were its
smart and sustainable technologies, including its contributions to
smart cities and the electric vehicle revolution. Learn more about
Panasonic at us.panasonic.com/news.
About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) provides the energy that powers millions
of homes and businesses across eight Western and Midwestern states.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, the company is an industry leader in
responsibly reducing carbon emissions and producing and delivering
clean energy solutions from a variety of renewable sources at
competitive prices. For more information,
visit xcelenergy.com or follow us
on Twitter and Facebook.
About Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport is the 18th-busiest airport in the
world and the sixth-busiest airport in the United States. With 58.3
million passengers traveling through the airport each year, DEN is
one of the busiest airline hubs in the world’s largest aviation
market. DEN is the primary economic engine for the state of
Colorado, generating more than $26 billion for the region annually.
For more information visit www.FlyDenver.com, check us out
on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, like us
on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For current
employment opportunities, visit jobs.flydenver.com.
About Younicos
Younicos is a global leader for intelligent energy storage and
grid solutions. Clients benefit from technical expertise,
commercial know-how and in-depth experience built on 150 megawatts
installed in 37 energy storage projects worldwide. The company was
founded in 2005 in Berlin, Germany, and currently employs more than
130 storage experts there and in Austin, Texas. For more
information, please visit www.younicos.com and follow us
on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Energy Storage North America (ESNA)
Energy Storage North America is the largest conference,
exhibition and networking event for the North American energy
storage industry. Now in its fifth year, ESNA connects developers,
energy users, utilities and policymakers to advance understanding
and deployment of energy storage, and ultimately build a cleaner,
more affordable and more resilient grid. ESNA 2017 will take place
on August 8-10 in San Diego, California.
Visit www.esnaexpo.com to learn more.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170619005796/en/
Media:G&S Business CommunicationsChristina Atkinson,
212-697-2600 x1209catkinson@gscommunications.com