Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) and solar giant SunEdison have teamed to finance and deliver 50 MW of energy storage for Southern California Edison (SCE) under long-term capacity contracts.
Known for its hybrid electric building approach, AMS won the contract through an SCE request for proposals in 2013, issued to fulfill a local capacity requirement. The energy storage projects will be installed on commercial and industrial sites throughout the West Los Angeles Basin.
The partnership continues a string of deals recently announced by Advanced Microgrid Solutions, including agreements underway with Tesla and Shell.
SCE is buying the storage capacity to help offset the power once produced by the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear power plant and other soon-to-be retired gas-fired plants. The program is part of SCE’s plan to modernize the grid by adding 2.2 GW of newer, cleaner resources including energy storage and renewables by 2022.
The contract will run for 10 years. AMS will deliver capacity derived from electricity stored in a fleet of aggregated buildings where it has installed batteries.
The AMS-SunEdison partnership combines Advanced Microgrid’s innovative designs and technology partnerships with SunEdison’s development and financing expertise. The first fleet of energy storage systems is expected to begin commercial operation in 2016 in Irvine, California.
Terraform Power, a global owner and operator of clean energy power plants, plans to acquire the energy storage assets once they go into operation.
“We are excited to be expanding our clean energy portfolio with a new asset type that provides both attractive returns and strong growth prospects,” said Carlos Domenech, TerraForm Power’s CEO. “TerraForm Power anticipates acquiring these systems once operational, making them the first storage projects in our fleet. These systems fit well with our contracted clean power generation fleet, as they have long term capacity contracts with SCE, a leading utility and customer with a strong balance sheet and credit rating.”
Track energy storage, distributed energy and microgrid deals by following us on Twitter @MicrogridNews.
