Power control system dispatches stored solar power from battery

to grid. Courtesy of Public Service Company of New Mexico

Distributed Energy Storage: Adapting the

Grid to Changing Consumption Patterns
Mike Edmonds, Vice President, Strategic Solutions, S&C Electric Company
Troy Miller, Manager of Business Development, Power Quality Products, S&C Electric Company

ur electric grid is headed toward a tipping point. From growing

adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and other large loads to increasing
concentrations of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels and other intermittent
renewable generation in communities, the challenges facing our aging
infrastructure are certain to be compounded in the coming years.

Consumers preference for green energy technologies will become

even stronger as they realize the paybacks from EVs, PVs, and
other innovations. Consequently, our grid will be strained to the
breaking point from peak loads and variable resources, driving
utilities to change the way they operate on a fundamental level.
To manage the burgeoning loads and unpredictability
accompanying these disruptive technologies, utilities can
pursue costly, time-consuming infrastructure build-outs today,
only to face similar problems in another decade. They can also
disperse energy storage devices at key points throughout the
grid, enabling them to manage evolving consumption patterns
and dynamic resources, while deferring or even eliminating
traditional capital expenditures into the future.
Instead of adding fossil fuelbased generation, larger volumes
of copper wire, and higher-rated transformers, utilities can
mitigate the effects of larger peak loads and intermittent
resources using distributed storage devices along with smarter
load control (demand response). When strategically deployed,
distributed energy storage can fortify our existing grid, enabling
it to adapt to inevitable changes in consumer habits and
associated energy use patterns.

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Outperforming Smart Meters

Electric utilities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on
smart meters in an attempt to shave peak loads. Using demand
charges and time of use meters, utilities have been trying to
modify consumer behavior.
Yet studies continue to reveal that even with proper consumer
education about smart meter benefits, utilities have only
cut peak loads by six to eight percent using these meters.
Without education, the number drops to four percent. For
most consumers, the savings isnt compelling enough to justify
behavior changes they may perceive as inconvenient, such as
running home appliances only during off-peak hours.
For peak shaving, distributed energy storage can be more
effective because it doesnt require consumer involvement. Simply
deploying battery storage within communities and at substations
can achieve the same (or better) effect as changing consumer
behavior, while giving utilities tighter resource control.
Utilities can leverage storage to shift load and generation
patterns, making better use of grid assets, boosting grid
reliability, and cutting carbon emissionsall without
investing in changing consumers hard-wired habits. As
battery technology costs continue falling in the next few years,
widespread deployment will become even more feasible.
In the future, storage and smart home appliances could be
integrated, allowing appliances to be temporarily turned off to keep
power available for other uses during system disturbances. This
demand-side management would be critical in islanding situations.

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CommunicatE, Interact, and adapt with Power

Progressive Technologies Tax the Grid
While EV loads keep climbing due to gas prices and
environmental concerns, more consumers and businesses are
adopting ground source (geothermal) heat pumps for heating
and cooling homes and buildings. Eligible for DOEs residential
renewable energy tax credit, this green technology places
kW-level loads on distribution grids, so large peaks result when
pumps are concentrated in geographic areas conducive to their
use. By 2013, the total U.S. market for geothermal pumps could
exceed $10 billion (Priority Metrics Group). Distributed storage
can help utilities manage the large peak loads resulting from
this technologys proliferation, similar to EV adoption.
As rooftop PV prices continue falling, energy costs continue
rising. In the not-too-distant future, an economic inflection
point will motivate more consumers to invest in PV panels due to
shorter term paybacks. The same goes for EV adoption due to gas
prices, which are projected to continue their upward trajectory.

A smarter way to prepare the grid for changing

consumption is to embrace the diverse benefits
distributed energy storage offers.
Our existing grid, however, is not equipped to temper the tidal
wave of variable energy from PVs, small-scale turbines, and
other residential-scale renewables. Its equally unprepared for
the impending peak load swell from EVs, geothermal systems,
and other increasingly popular disruptive technologies.
But distributed energy storage systems can make the grid strong
and agile enough to handle whats coming. For example, if
enough PV panels generate power on a cool sunny day (when
there are no heating or air conditioning loads), distribution
voltages can increase and become unstable.
Storage solves multiple problems including smoothing PV
output, storing excess energy in distributed batteries, and redispatching that power during peak load times, such as when
large numbers of EVs charge at night.
Energy storage offers unmatched flexibility. Batteries and
other storage systems of various sizes can be used throughout
distribution grids to reduce the need for traditional generation
through peak shaving and integrate renewables, provide gridstabilizing frequency regulation services, and enable substation
load leveling. Easily installed in areas with high EV and PV
penetrations, distributed storage can also bring its diverse
benefits all the way to the residential feeder and customer levels.

Solar plant with battery storage for smoothing and load shifting.
Credit: Public Service Company of New Mexico

Pushing Energy Storage to Grids Edge

While large-scale batteries bring big benefits to the grid,
community energy storage (CES) is a small battery-based system
that meets the need for storage at the grids edge, where it hasnt
previously existed. Offering many of the benefits of much larger
storage, CES systems are pad-mounted units. Utilities can
distribute and aggregate them along residential feeders to equip
the grid for changing consumption patterns while also serving
communities with reliable backup power.
During grid outages, a typical 25-kVA CES unit can provide
power to several homes for one to three hours. Utilities can
aggregate the functionality of up to 1,000 grid-tied units
using a distributed energy management (DEM) system. DEMcontrolled CES units can act collectively as a scalable storage
plant and perform peak shaving for asset relief, improve power
quality, and increase local voltage control. Utilities can bring
CES online incrementally to defer major system build-outs.

Our grid will be strained to the breaking point from

peak loads and variable resources, driving utilities to
change the way they operate on a fundamental level.

CES batteries can also integrate and buffer residential-scale

renewables, and recharge from the grid during off-peak times.
Additionally, CES units can help utilities pinpoint where
problems reside without dispatching crews to track them down.
Using CES fleets, utilities can make the grid more agile, reliable,
intelligent, and efficient.

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Energy storage can boost system efficiency. Image courtesy of A123

Building a More Agile Grid

To navigate the coming waves of potentially disruptive
technologies, including EV loads and rooftop PVs, our electric
grid must become stronger and more agile now. Building out
current infrastructures is a time-consuming, capital-intensive
process that requires upgrading costly assets, digging up
underground distribution systems, and even building new
power plants to manage peak loads.
A smarter way to prepare the grid for changing consumption
is to embrace the diverse benefits distributed energy storage
offers, from more economical peak shaving of large loads to
rapid-response frequency regulation for grid stabilization. By
strategically dispersing energy storage systemsfrom CES to
large-scale batteriesthroughout the grid, utilities can boost
system efficiency, capacity, and reliability, while deferring or
eliminating traditional T&D build-outs.
But to fuel development of innovative new storage technologies
and encourage broad-scale deployment of proven solutions,
more proactive national energy regulations beyond FERCs
recent pivotal pay for performance rule are needed today.
Policies must do more than allow storage to compete in markets
with traditional generationthey must allow utilities a return
on investment that reflects the actual broad, deep benefits
storage can deliver.
Energy storage has vast potential to fortify and transform
our grid, making it inherently agile and highly responsive to

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Typical community energy storage unit installation. Courtesy of S&C Electric Company

dynamic sources and loads. In essence, storage will equip the

grid to adapt to the continuous change thats certain to define
our future. ei
Mr. Edmonds is responsible for the strategy and direction of
S&Cs product and service solutions. His group includes energy
storage, grid automation, grid communications, and traditional
products. Before joining S&C in 2010, he was vice president and
general manager of Siemens USA Energy Automation group.
Mr. Miller oversees the development of market opportunities
for S&Cs power quality solutions, from energy storage to UPS
systems. He has more than two decades of experience in the power
engineering industry.

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