Second and third US projects underway for E.On
5 September 2017: The US arm of European utility E.On has begun construction on its second and third North American utility-scale energy storage projects in Texas.
Following the successful grid connection of Iron Horse, a 10MW lithium-ion battery system connected to a 2MW PV plant in Tucson, Arizona, work has now begun on Texas Waves, a pair of energy storage projects for E.On wind farms in West Texas.
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Located at Pyron and Inadale wind farms, each project is of 9.9MW capacity with a “short duration” of energy storage, E.On said. They will be providing ancillary, grid-balancing services to the ERCOT (Electricity Reliability Council of Texas), the independent transmission system operator serving some 24 million customers in the state.
Primoris Renewable Energy, the clean energy arm of a Denver-headquartered engineering and construction firm will deliver engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, while software and integration specialist Greensmith – which also worked on Iron Horse – will provide energy storage software and services. The projects' construction and Greensmith's involvement were announced back in March.
Mark Frigo, E.On VP for energy storage said the Texas Waves projects would build on lessons learned from Iron Horse’s construction. The 9.9MW projects are scheduled to go online by the end of this year.
Apple battery director among new hires at Eos Energy Storage
5 September 2017: Eos Energy Storage, the US company making novel zinc hybrid cathode batteries at grid-scale, has made four top-level appointments, including the hire of a former Apple executive director for battery operations.
The company, which recently claimed its proprietary battery and energy storage system technology could reduce the cost of dispatchable solar-plus-storage for utilities to US$0.10 per kilowatt hour, has appointed a new CFO, VP of manufacturing, director of system engineering and integration and director of field operations.
Superconductor industry veteran of 30 years’ standing Dave Henry steps in as CFO, former ABB and Parke-Hannifin energy storage engineer Daniel Friberg is director of system engineering and integration and the new director of field operations is Keith Powers, who has been involved in developing 1.5GW of PV for companies including Iberdrola Renewables.
Joining the three is Richard Hanna, VP of manufacturing, who after a long stint working with EVs was recently tech brand Apple’s executive director for battery operations.
“I was immediately drawn to the technology on account of its simplistic design and manufacturability. The Znyth battery is completely different from the lithium batteries I’m used to. There are no clean rooms required and no complex deposition processes; we can manufacture these batteries in a machine shop like environment and are now working to increase volume, yield, and throughput through automation while expanding localized production lines in target international markets,” Hanna said.
Jim Hughes, former First Solar CEO who is now Eos Energy Storage chairman, said the “combined knowledge and expertise” of the new hires would help Eos “expand production and deploy MWh-scale storage on the grid—all with an unwavering focus on quality and continuous cost reduction.”
Delta launches integrated residential product for US market
5 September 2017: Power management company Delta has launched an ‘All-in-one’ energy storage solution for US homeowners ahead of the SPI trade show next week, alongside a new hybrid solar inverter.
The ‘All-in-one’ features a 7kW Delta E7U model hybrid inverter, battery cabinet with a 6kWh lithium-ion battery system, smart monitor and control system and a power meter. PV systems must be bought separately. Delta claims the product can “fulfill real-time energy demand and energy storage requirements of a home”.
Delta said the E7U inverter has a charging efficiency of 97%, uses three Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms and delivers DC power straight to the battery from the PV system, without additional power conversion required. Both inverter and battery cabinet can be safely installed outdoors.
The power meter comes with a 7” touchscreen interface, which controls system operation modes and monitors energy flows. If paired with Delta’s solar Data Cloud, users can follow their system’s workings via computer, smartphone or other remote device.
Meanwhile the company’s E-series hybrid solar inverters have integrated power conditioners which can drive backup power applications and send power directly to the home, grid or battery storage system. E-series inverters are ready for both DC and AC-coupling, for high and low-voltage batteries and also support cloud based data collection. Delta’s E6, E8 and E10 hybrid inverters are available in maximum output power levels of 6,000 VA, 8,000 VA and 10,000 VA respectively.