Advanced Energy Perspectives

Think of it as a championship prizefight between contenders for meeting peak power needs: In the red corner, at a size somewhere between a shipping container and an office building, but with a brain that’s hard to beat, it’s the GE Digital Gas Peaker Plant! In the blue corner, it’s battery storage, which bulks up by saving excess generation until it’s needed, then delivering power to the grid at breakneck speeds! Either way, advanced energy is the winner.

The news this week was full of advanced vehicles, blockchain, and a little of both at the same time! Plus, America’s burgeoning offshore wind market could get a little back-up from some Tesla batteries. That’s right, it’s offshore wind + storage, all in this week’s advanced energy news round up.

In this week’s news, utility scale storage is on the up-and-up, led by a new partnership between two AEE members, and Microsoft makes major deals for advanced energy. Both stories exemplify two trends we’re tracking this year: major corporations choosing advanced energy and the rapid growth of the storage market. Any way you slice it, advanced energy is on the rise!

In advance of a Department of Energy study seemingly intended to suggest otherwise, we find mounting evidence from leading experts that advanced energy is helping America’s electricity system, not harming it. One new example: New York City cashing in on demand response in a big way this summer. Plus: Texas is “too windy and sunny for old energy companies to make money.” Isn’t that a shame?

This week, the news is about cities taking the helm on advanced energy market creation, with Philadelphia joining scores of other cities in taking a pledge for advanced energy—though one columnist thinks the media attention lavished on 100% renewable statements is “mindless cheerleading.” And, like many weeks this year, storage is taking center stage as utilities deploy all kinds of technologies, from EV batteries to hot water heaters, to hold energy until it’s needed.