Dive Brief:
- PG&E has issued a request for offers, seeking 8 MW of storage to support some substations in remote areas of California.
- The RFO is the first round of an initial batch of storage PG&E is seeking as part of California's push to integrate more of the technology. The state has a 2021 storage mandate of 1.3 GW, and PG&E has a slate of projects it will announce by the end of the year.
- California is on the forefront of utility-scale storage, also evidenced by Southern California Edison's recently signed contracts for 250 MW of storage capacity.
Dive Insight:
California is pushing storage with aggressive utility mandates, and Greentech Media reports that the 8 MW solicitation by PG&E is just the first part of a 74-MW package of projects expected to be announced by the end of the year.
In its RFO, PG&E said the new energy storage systems would enable it "to defer otherwise necessary investments at up to five distribution substations." Those investments would involve upgrades to transformers at the substations.
PG&E is requesting four systems that would provide 1 MW of storage, along with one larger system capable of providing 4 MW of storage that would operate up to four hours per day. PG&E said it needs guaranteed operations at the larger station by May 2017, or a year after state regulators approve the project.
The state's interest in storage recently boosted Southern California Edison's solicitation. The utility had been seeking 50 MW of storage but signed contracts for five times that amount.
