Gov. Inks Massachusetts Energy Storage Mandate…Does Mickey Need a Microgrid?..Siemens Sees Distributed Energy Future
Massachusetts energy storage mandate a go
It’s official. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed into law Massachusetts’s energy storage requirement, making it the third state in the nation to mandate energy storage use by utilities.
The exact target will be determined by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER)
H. 4568, a comprehensive energy bill, also clarifies that utilities can own energy storage in the restructured state.
The Bay State follows California and Oregon in setting an energy storage target.
“Energy storage technology has the potential to be a game changer for the Massachusetts energy market, further cementing our place as a national clean energy leader,” said Judith Judson, DOER commissioner. “By pairing renewable energy resources with energy storage technology, this legislation will allow the Commonwealth to lower energy costs for ratepayers, shave our peak demand energy usage, and reduce our state’s carbon emissions.”
The Massachusetts energy storage requirement was a small part of a larger clean energy bill that promotes offshore wind and other renewables, including hydroelectricity. Baker describes the bill in a video here.
Read more about the new Massachusetts energy storage requirement in an article ublished last week by Microgrid Knowledge.
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Mickey, you may need a microgrid
The lights went out at Disney parks in both California and Japan last week, leaving some visitors stuck on rides and in darkened buildings, according to press reports and social media posts by those in the amusement parks.
In Japan, park officials escorted visitors from attractions after the power went out around noon on August 2. Lightning strikes may have caused the outage, which closed down the park, according to Mashable.
The next day in California, both the Disney theme park and areas of surrounding Anaheim suffered a power outage. Several thousand people lost power. It was about 40 minutes before back-up generators began functioning at Disney.
Anaheim utility officials believe that a small animal may have damaged utility equipment, causing the electrical failure, according to local press reports.
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Siemens sees uptick in distributed energy
Siemens says recent orders received by the company underscore growing interest in distributed energy.
Within just a few weeks, the company received orders for nine compact steam turbines from customers in Great Britain and the U.S.
The turbines are to be manufactured at a Siemens’ production site in Frankenthal, Germany. Three SST-040 turbines have been ordered by the Dutch energy provider Kara Energy Systems for biomass power plants in Great Britain. The US-based company Airclean Energy in Seattle, Washington, has placed an order for six SST-110 compact steam turbines.
“These new orders underscore the growing demand for small units to serve distributed energy-producing solutions,” said Volker Neumann, Siemens’ location manager at the Frankenthal plant. “With both these orders, we are contributing to sustainable energy supply in Great Britain and the United States.”
The three SST-040 turbines, designed to deliver an electrical generating capacity of 300 and 420 kW, will be deployed in three biomass power plants in Great Britain. The plants are scheduled to begin operation between November 2016 and February 2017. Siemens has already received three identical orders from Kara over the course of the past twelve months.
The U.S. company Airclean Energy is integrating the six compact SST-110 steam turbines into complete facilities. The turbines with an output of 3 MW each will be deployed in process steam systems at industrial facilities in the Midwestern US. They will replace steam pressure reducing valve (PRV) stations, optimising the efficiency of the steam cycle, according to Siemens.
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