, LTD.

DIGITAL VISION

Federal
and State
Collaboration
on Electric
Energy Storage
Projects

AS A CONCEPT, ENERGY STORAGE HAS IMMEDIATE APPEAL. IT

transfers energy through time, from generation to consumption, just as energy
transmission transfers energy from one place to another. Indeed, in the early
days of electricity, the Leyden jar and Voltas columnar apparatus were very
much cutting-edge technology. However, after the invention of the dynamo, ac
generation, and the spectacular spread of continental electric grids, the storage
of electricity became relatively unimportantwith one exception. The lead-acid
battery became an essential ingredient of the automobile. Due to large production volume, this battery has become relatively inexpensive and fairly reliable.
More recently, energy storage has also become a critical component of electronic equipment such as portable computers and mobile phones. In this market,
where cost is less important, the need for greater energy density, zero maintenance, and long cycle life has allowed advanced batteries such as lithium-ion
(Li-ion) and nickel-metal-hydride batteries to find wide application.
By contrast, energy storage (other than pumped hydro) has found very little
application in utility or large-scale industrial applications. A large 20-MW/15-min
storage facility in Puerto Rico kept the entire island grid stable for several years.
Because the battery was designed primarily as an energy source for spinning
reserve but was used as a rapidly fluctuating power source performing frequency
regulation, it reached end-of-life prematurely and did not meet predicted life
expectations. However, recognizing its vital importance to the island, the facility
has recently been repowered with 20 MW of tubular plate lead-acid batteries. An

by Imre Gyuk, Pramod Kulkarni, Joseph H. Sayer,

John D. Boyes, Garth P. Corey, and Georgianne H. Peek
march/april 2005

1540-7977/05/$20.002005 IEEE

IEEE power & energy magazine

31

even bigger 27-MW/15-min facility was commissioned in

Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2003. It utilizes nickel-cadmium batteries
and does an excellent job providing voltage support for the
long transmission line from Anchorage. Even when not discharging, it can supply about 10 Mvar. Similarly successful is a
250-kW/8-h vanadium redox facility that was put into service
on a long distribution line in Utah. In Wisconsin, a system of
six 1-MW/1-s superconducting magnetic energy storage
(SMES) devices was effectively used to inject power into a collapse-prone transmission loop. A number of demonstrations in
the 100-kW to 1-MW range have been field-tested with the
U.S. Department of Energys support and in cooperation with
major utilities. Technologies include lead acid, zinc bromine
(ZnBr), Li ion, and sodium sulfur (NaS). In addition, a considerable number of megawatt-sized lead-acid uninterrupted
power supply (UPS) systems are in operation throughout the
United States for financial institutions, server farms, airports,
and the like. Japan, on the other hand, boasts over 70-MW
installed capacity for NaS technology alonethe largest facilities at 8 MW/8 h.
Meanwhile, analytical studies have shown the applicability of energy storage for voltage support and frequency stability, for peak shaving, renewables firming, transmission
upgrade deferral, and a host of other uses. Many of these
applications are already cost-effective with current storage
technologies. This cost-effectiveness is enhanced if several
compatible applications, such as arbitrage and transmission
deferral, are combined.
Estimates of the potential market for energy storage in the
United States are quite large. A recent study on the California

market extrapolates to some 80 billion watts, or US$60 billion, for the maximum market potential (assuming a not unrealistic cost of US$600/kW for the storage system). The
cumulative potential market for energy storage systems in
California is shown in Figure 1 as a function of system cost.
While this study does not take into account market penetration or competing technologies, it does demonstrate the sheer
size of the potential market.
Several drivers underscore the need for widespread application of energy storage. Recent major outages have shown
the need for grid reliability, particularly in view of the growing digitization of industry and commerce. Terrorism has led
to security issues which are often similar to reliability concerns. Mandates for renewable energy raise grid stability and
dispatchability issues. Grid unreliability is a problem of very
real economic impact. A recent study estimates outages cost
the United States some US$79 billion per year. Interestingly,
momentary outages (<5 min) account for US$52 billion of
this, while sustained outages account for only a third of the
cost. But momentary outages are precisely where energy storage is most cost-effective and other solutionssuch as distributed generationare least applicable.

State Partnerships
The Energy Storage Systems Program of the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) supports the development of a large portfolio of storage options for a wide spectrum of applications.
Working with a number of utilities, many storage technologies
have undergone field tests, but few have found deployment on
a utility scale. The lack of extensive field experience acts as a

Transmission and Distribution Congestion

Ancillary Services
Transmission Access Charge Reduction
Transmission and Distribution Support
Renewables Firming
10,000
Central Capacity
Arbitrage
Cumulative Benefits ($ millions)

12,000

Customer Reliability
8,000

Demand Charge Reduction

Transmission Upgrade Deferral
Renewables Time-of-Production Payments
D DeferralMedian CA Cost

6,000

End-User Power Quality

4,000
T.O.U. and Demand
Charge Reduction
2,000

T.O.U. Energy-Only
D Deferral
Highest 10% Cost

0
0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Breakeven Cost of Storage ($/kW)

figure 1. An estimate of cumulative storage benefits for single-purpose applications in California by Distributed Utility
Associates. National figures are approximately eight times higher.
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IEEE power & energy magazine

march/april 2005

Momentary outages are precisely

where energy storage is most cost effective
and other solutions are least applicable.

deterrent for further installations. Clearly, a new strategy is

needed if energy storage is to gain acceptance as a solution to
the many applications for which it is eminently suited.
In the United States there tends to be a distinct funding
discontinuity between the long-range and more basic technology research of federal agencies and the short-term commercial interest of industries and utilities. In countries such as
Sweden or Japan, national and local governments maintain
much closer relationships with industry, accelerating the path
from research to commercialization. In the United States, the
natural partner to bridge this gap would appear to be the
states themselves. The DOEs Energy Storage Program has
formed collaborations with the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA). California and New
York are among the states most active in finding new energy

solutions. Both states contain large urban centers with transmission constraints. Both states also have mandates for
renewable energy.
The goal of these partnerships with the states is to demonstrate electric energy storage as a technically viable, costeffective, and broadly applicable option for increasing the
reliability of the electricity system and for electric energy
management. In their capabilities and perspectives regarding
energy storage, the federal and state governments each have
distinct strengths, which are summarized in Table 1.
The DOE is collaborating with California (through the
CEC) and with New York (through NYSERDA) through
two separate initiatives. The CEC collaboration started in
2001 with an initial agreement to work together to formulate a series of demonstration projects. It was decided that
these should be demonstration projects for near-commercial

table 1. Complementary strengths of federal and state governments.

Federal Government

State Government

Has a national perspective on the priority, justifying critical

component/system developments not often deemed essential
at state levelsalthough the states would eventually deploy
these components (e.g., national security and national
grid integrity).

Has a more accurate understanding and appreciation of local

issues that could be addressed by electricity energy storage
(EES) technologies.

Can justify the cost-effectiveness of the development of critical

components that have more national applications than for
application by smaller local markets, rendering investments
by states less cost-effective.

Better understanding of institutional issues (permitting,

interconnection, financing) that need to be addressed
for a technology to be successfully deployed in the region.

Has long-standing working relationships with other federal

agencies that could share the cost and development of dualuse technologies and participate in the resulting benefits
(e.g., compact energy storage units for the Department of
Defense and NASA.)

Has a stronger working relationship with local electric utilities

and energy suppliers (e.g., wind energy developers), helping
facilitate opportunity identification and system integration.

Has the ability to bring together national and international

resources such as information, technology partners, and
financing

Has the ability to define local benefits that form the basis of
value proposition affecting acceptability of some EES
technologies over others (e.g. value of transmission
congestion relief against the planned expansion, demand
forecast, and other options such as distributed generation).

Can act as a stable reservoir of scientific knowledge and

technical know-how (e.g., national laboratories) when statelevel resources are divested/withdrawn permanently or for a
long duration due to economic or policy reasons.

Has the ability to educate local decision makers and affect

state/local policies influencing electricity generation,
distribution, transmission, regulations, permitting issues, and
rebate programs that are conducive to EES development.

Can provide strategic investment in the scientific knowledge

and analytical tools that are essential for technology and
project development but that have a long-term pay-back
which discourages state level-investments in the elements
(e.g., developing monitoring systems)

Can provide financing that is justified when the EES projects

meet well-defined local needs that may be premature for
investment elsewhere yet can contribute towards
advancement of technologies or EES systems at a national
level (e.g., Alaskas 40-MW Li-ion battery system).

Has the ability to transfer technology nationally, bolstering

confidence in the technology performance, which fosters
larger markets and ultimately results in lower costs.

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33

Californias economy is heavily dependent

on having a reliable transmission and
distribution system.

products and should have an economic basis. Following the

announcement of the CEC program, the DOE reached an
agreement with NYSERDA for a similar program, which
utilizes each others strengths but with a somewhat different
emphasis. Both programs resulted in open solicitations,
have reached the stage of contract placement, and are progressing nicely.
DOEs programmatic goal for the two state initiatives is
the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data relevant to
near-commercial electric energy storage applications, systems, and products carried out in close association with Sandia National Laboratories. This analysis and new information
will help the storage community by increasing the collective
knowledge of currently available energy storage systems and
their operations, uses, benefits, and potential obstacles. The
new examples of carefully analyzed and evaluated storage
systems can be expected to help accelerate the growth and
maturation of the electric energy storage industry.

The CEC/DOE Electrical Energy

Storage Collaboration
Californias economy is heavily dependent on having a reliable transmission and distribution system. The energy crisis
of 2001 underscored the need for avoiding extreme price
volatility of electricity prices. Californias effort to foster
energy efficiency requires reducing peak electricity demand
and increased use of base load generation resources. The
states well-diversified but underutilized renewable energy
portfolio, wind energy systems in particular, requires full utilization. Electrical energy storage (EES) in its myriad manifestations, from a few milliseconds to several hours, holds the
promise of solving several of these issues. Concurrent developments in auxiliary technologiessuch as controls, communications, and power electronicshave made it possible
to successfully integrate emerging electric energy storage
technologies for a range of applications that can solve some
of the problems facing California.
Since 1990 California has periodically funded development of electrical energy storage technologies. Yet, it was only
in 2001 that the CECs Public Interest Energy Research
(PIER) initiated a comprehensive program for using EES
technologies to solve problems in the area of grid reliability,
renewable energy integration, and demand management. The
initiative involved leveraging DOEs investment in research
and development of electric energy storage components and
systems and focusing more on the integration of these tech34

IEEE power & energy magazine

nologies in Californias electrical system. This approach was

based on the premise that there are certain inherent strengths
in federal and state government entities that are highly complementary (Table 1). Not duplicating each others efforts is
bringing about expediency and efficiency in the deployment
of storage technologies.
Consequently CEC and DOE signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) regarding energy storage to promote
program coordination, information sharing, sharing of other
relevant expertise, and the program management of project
implementation elements as defined in the MOU.
In July 2003, the CEC issued a request for proposals
(RFP) on energy storage demonstration projects. Projects had
to involve emerging, innovative storage technology, develop a
detailed benefit analysis up front, provide for extensive data
collection, and be located in California. The DOEs Energy
Storage Program, through Sandia National Laboratories, had
created a methodology for estimating the economic value of
proposed demonstrations. This methodology was published
with the RFP as Attachment 14.
Monitoring the technical and economic performance of the
systems, once they commence operation, will be supervised
by DOE through Sandia. This third-party validation is of critical importance in California if the potential users are to develop confidence in the EES performance and economics.
To date the initiative has resulted in securing three projects
spanning applications in the transmission, distribution, and
customer use of storage technologies resulting in a US$9.6
million three-year program. This is a heavily leveraged
three-year program with the CEC providing US$3.8 million
in funding, the DOE providing US$1.2 million, and the
projects themselves contributing (in cost share) more than
US$4.6 million. The primary purpose of the demonstrations
is to showcase near-commercial electric energy storage
devices that can demonstrate a positive cost benefit for the
electric energy consumers of California. A turnkey approach was specified that will result in the commissioning
of fully operational systems based on emerging technology
electric energy storage devices. There is a distinct possibility that through collaboration with the DOE, one or two
additional projects might be added to Californias EES portfolio in the near future.
ZBB Energy Corporation, Menomonee Falls,
Wisconsin. This project is designed to mitigate substation congestion by placing a 2-MW, 2-MWh zincbromine flow battery at a Pacific Gas and Electric
march/april 2005

figure 2. A 200-kW/2-h ZBB zinc bromine battery system being tested at a Detroit Edison substation.

(PG&E) substation. The project is currently in progress

with the assembly of the battery system at the ZBB
factory in Wisconsin. The battery consists of four 500kW, 500-kWh modules operating under a master control to dispatch energy from the battery to mitigate
overload conditions at a selected substation. Following
testing at the PG&E distributed utility integration test
facility, the battery will be installed at a substation that
experiences periodic overload conditions. The battery
will be operating in a standby mode to supply extra
power as required. Savings created by deferring the
capital investment in upgrading the marginal substation
make this an economically viable project. Another
expected benefit will be the ability to easily move the
storage system from a summer peaking substation to a
winter peaking substation, thereby avoiding multiple
upgrade costs using a single storage system. ZBBs
zinc-bromine flow battery was developed over a number of years with DOE funding. A Detroit Edison
demonstration of the battery is shown in Figure 2.
Beacon Power Corporation, Wilmington,
Massachusetts. This project, a 75-kW/15-min flywheel
energy storage system, is designed to provide frequency regulation on heavily congested power distribution
facilities. Existing BHE6 Beacon flywheels modified
with a larger motor will be used. Seven flywheels will
produce 50100 KW for 15 min. Charge and discharge
march/april 2005

will be initiated by an ISO generated signal. The system will store energy when generation exceeds loads
and will discharge energy when load exceeds generation, thereby stabilizing the frequency. The current,
inefficient practice is to constantly adjust generator
output. The flywheels will be assembled in a transportable container and installed at PG&Es distributed
utility integration test site in San Ramon, California.
Control systems will be developed to validate the ability of the system to follow existing AGC signals as well
as faster changing signals. A low cost, Internet-based,
dispatch system will be tested to interface with the ISO
Energy Management System.
Palmdale Water District, Palmdale, California. This
project aims to minimize the impact of variable winds
on a 950-kW wind turbine attached to the treatment
plant microgrid by using a 450-kW supercapacitor
device. During power outages, energy storage will also
provide ride-through for critical loads until emergency
generation can be brought online. While providing reliable energy for the microgrid, the project will in turn
help reduce transmission and distribution congestion in
the area. A view of the water district site is shown in
Figure 3.

NYSERDA/DOE Energy Storage Initiative

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
IEEE power & energy magazine

35

figure 3. The Palmdale, California, water district where

450 kW of supercapacitor storage will minimize power
fluctuations from the wind turbine visible on the other side
of the reservoir.

figure 4. Three 600-HP compressors to be run in combination with a 1-MW NaS battery system at a Long Island,
New York natural gas refueling station for 220 buses.

(NYSERDA) programs are actively pursuing the demonstration of innovative technologies for enhancing the reliability
of the states electric grid. Although generating supplies are
adequate statewide, there are regional deficiencies as a result
of existing transmission-line limitations. This is particularly
acute in downstate metropolitan New York and Long Island.
Regional programs to add distributed generation capacity,
and to aggregate existing standby generation capacity in grid
emergencies, are in place. Concurrently, projects for developing renewable generating capacity with minimal environmental impact are also under evaluation.
In the area of electric energy storage, NYSERDAs interest is directed toward new technologies that may provide economic, environmentally sound alternatives for supporting the
grid. Electric storage applications in the state could include
applications for peak load shifting, resulting in reduced consumer costs, transmission and distribution equipment upgrade
deferral, frequency regulation, grid voltage support, and
emergency power. It is anticipated that providers of energy
storage services eventually will be able to participate in the
states various competitive electric markets.
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IEEE power & energy magazine

Electric storage technologies are expected to be effective

for coupling renewable energy generation to the grid. The
implementation of the states renewable portfolio standard
policy will result in producing sizable new generating capacity with fluctuating output. Energy storage can control the
peaks and valleys of renewable generation and assure grid
stability and reliability.
In March 2004 NYSERDA entered into an MOU with the
DOEs Energy Storage Program to encourage, support, and
facilitate planning, implementation, and information transfer
of electric energy storage-related demonstration activities.
Specifically, the purpose of this MOU was to launch a joint
solicitation on energy storage technology.
Subsequently, NYSERDA issued program opportunity
notice (PON) 846, as a joint NYSERDA/DOE energy storage
initiative to invite proposals to: 1) demonstrate emerging
electric energy storage technologies at New York State sites;
2) develop innovative electric storage technologies that can
lead to new commercial products manufactured or packaged
in New York State; and 3) perform market analysis/feasibility
studies for energy storage applications in New York.
NYSERDAs role in the initiative is to provide contract
and administrative management and control, conduct the
evaluation and selection of proposals, and provide contract
and administrative management of the selected projects.
NYSERDA will coordinate technology transfer activities of
the electric energy storage projects with assistance from the
contractors, DOE, and other organizations interested in energy research.
DOEs role in the initiative is to assist in the evaluation
and selection of proposals, provide technical management of
the selected projects, oversee the data collection and analysis
for selected demonstration projects, and oversee the performance of selected projects. These tasks will again be handled
through Sandia National Laboratories.
Eight submitted proposals were selected for NYSERDA
funding and contracts are in preparation. In round numbers,
DOE will contribute US$900,000, NYSERDA will provide
US$2.6 million in funding, and US$3.6 million will be the
cost share of the awardees. This is a very highly leveraged
program for all the participants.
Two major energy storage demonstration projects were
selected for the joint initiative. Unlike the CEC projects,
these will be technical demonstrations only.
New York Power Authority (NYPA), White Plains,
New York. This project will shift a compressor peak
load from on-peak to off-peak and provide emergency
backup power at a major Long Island bus depot facility. The proposed EES is a NaS battery system. Peak
load reduction is becoming an urgent need in urban
areas suffering from congested transmission lines, particularly during the summer peak. The primary application will be to supply 1 MW of power to a natural
gas compressor for six to eight hours per day, seven
days a week. The compressor fuels new natural gas
march/april 2005

buses that are replacing diesel-fueled buses. The comcooperative utilities with isolated customers on long
pressor system is shown in Figure 4. The turnkey sysdistribution lines.
tem will be provided by ABB, Inc. to include the
These three energy storage demonstrations are scheduled
power conversion system and overall system integra- to be commissioned in New York during 2005. They will run
tion plus the NaS battery by NGK Insulators, Ltd. of for a minimum 18-month period and will be fully monitored
Japan. This project builds on the success of a smaller and carefully analyzed during that time.
100-kW NaS project, cosponsored by DOE, at an
There is one product development project which was
American Electric Power research site in Columbus, selected for funding:
Ohio. It will be the first full-scale installation of NaS
AFS Trinity Power, Livermore, California. This projtechnology in the United States.
ect is to qualify a new flywheel rotor supplier located
Beacon Power Corporation, Wilmington, Massachuin New York State. AFS Trinity has selected Power
setts. This projects aim is to provide grid frequency
and Composite Technologies, Inc. (PCT) of Amsterregulation by utilizing a high-energy flywheel storage
dam, New York, as a new rotor supplier for this projsystem. Frequency regulation is necessary to balance
ect. The flywheel power system currently under
the constantly varying differences between electricity
development can operate at a maximum speed of
generation and load. This demon37,000 rpm and produce 250
stration will follow the CEC projkW of power. The system can
ect
adapting
successes
store and discharge 1 kWh of
demonstrated in California. The
energy. PCT will develop the
demonstration will consist of a
capability to supply and fabri50- to 100-kW system of seven
cate all-carbon rotors with
Beacon flywheels adapted to
press-fit rims. This new capabiloperate on Niagara Mohawks
ity will permit PCT to become a
distribution grid and physically
supplier of composite rims to all
located on the customer side of
flywheel manufacturers. The
the meter at an existing industrial
project builds on work previoussite in Amsterdam, New York. A
ly funded by the DOEs Energy
15-kW flywheel is shown in FigStorage Program.
ure 5. The primary difference
Three analysis projects were also
between the two projects is that
selected. A market analysis by Distribthe NYSERDA facility will be on
uted Utility Associates has the objective
a customer site, taking care of
to characterize a) the potential benefits
random problems at the site,
from use of grid interactive, modular
while the CEC device will be testelectric energy storage and b) the market
ed in a laboratory environment
potential for storage for a range of plauwhere controlled disturbances can
sible applications in the state of New
be injected and the performance
York. This analysis will provide a frameanalyzed.
work to evaluate demonstrations or tech Gaia Power Technologies, New
nology developments that address a
York, New York. This project will
viable value proposition for application
demonstrate a demand-reduction figure 5. A 15-kW/6-kWh flywheel
with significant amounts of storage. The
and load-leveling device for edge- by Beacon Power. Seven flywheels
evaluation will also include a characteriof-grid scenarios with economic will be combined to provide frequen- zation of important implications for tarcy regulation in California and New
benefits to the local utility and the
iffs in New York. This study builds on a
York state projects.
rural electricity user. This study
previous DOE-funded study, which did a
will be comprised of two parts,
similar evaluation for California.
testing the application of electricity storage technology
An analysis project, by EPRI-PEAC will develop a comin distinct scenarios using an 11-kW, 20-kWh Gaia plete regulatory and market analysis methodology and apply
PowerTower installed at a residence in the Delaware it to conditions in the area controlled by the New York IndeCounty Electric Cooperative (DCEC) territory. The pendent Systems Operator (NYISO); this will serve as the
PowerTower will provide demand reduction as the load backbone for a detailed technical siting analysis for energy
at the user exceeds a preset threshold. The battery will storage projects. Prospective locations in New York State
also supplement a 5-kW fuel cell as the primary elec- will be identified based on the regulatory and market analytricity source, boosting power to the user as needed. sis, and appropriate energy storage technologies will be
The project should be of particular benefit to rural selected.
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37

Electric storage technologies

are expected to be essential for effective coupling
of renewables to the grid.

Ridge Energy Storage & Grid Services will perform a

market analysis study to assess the feasibility of small compressed air energy storage (CAES) for transmission congestion management and wind firming/shaping applications in
New York. This study is the first phase of a larger effort to
create a practical, economic, bulk energy storage facility in
the 1015 MW range. It builds on a previous study funded by
DOE to evaluate the potential of CAES to increase the capacity factor for bringing wind energy from West Texas over burdened transmission lines.

Implementation of Federal/State
Collaborations
Both the CEC/DOE and NYSERDA/DOE collaborations
follow the same general pattern. The DOEs Energy Storage
Program, through Sandia National Laboratories, has developed wide technical expertise in storage technologies,
power conversion systems, application studies, data collection and analysis, and system integration, while the states
have a clear idea of the issues facing their electrical systems
(Table 1). In both collaborations, DOE/Sandia participated
in RFP preparation and the formulation of procurement documents by matching the states identified potential needs
with applications that could be satisfied by the current state
of the art of storage industry.
Unique to the CEC program was the desire to demonstrate
the economic benefit/cost ratio for the proposed systems.
Since no generally accepted method of calculating energy
storage benefits existed, Sandia contracted with Distributed
Utility Associates to generate a uniform methodology for calculating the benefit of energy storage systems. This methodology was published as an attachment to the CECs request
for proposals and each bidder was required to estimate the
benefits of their system. It was hoped, but not required, that
the benefit/cost ratio would be greater than one.
Each state was responsible for publishing the procurement package, managing the procurement process, and contracting with the energy storage system manufacturers.
Sandia worked with each state to determine the instrumentation and data acquisition procedures that would demonstrate
successful completion of each states requirements. Consequently, for respective collaborations, Sandia has contracted
with PEAC and EnerNex as data acquisition and analysis
managers through competitive procurements. Technical
guidance is provided to both the successful manufacturers
and to the data acquisition contractors.
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IEEE power & energy magazine

Each energy storage system proposed for the CEC/DOE

and demonstrations projects of the NYSERDA/DOE initiative includes a customized data acquisition system for the
purpose of providing system operational data. These data will
be used in the evaluation and generation of reports on the
overall performance of the energy storage system. Data
acquisition rates must be adequate to monitor the type of
operation the system is designed to perform. For example,
power quality operations require high-speed data acquisition
on the order of microseconds in order to adequately capture
power-quality or system-stability events. In contrast, energy
management operations, such as peak shaving or arbitrage
applications, require sampling on the order of milliseconds to
seconds with 15 min averages
The data management contractors will be responsible for
conducting an overall analysis of the systems technical performance for each of the energy-storage demonstrations. For
the CEC projects, the economic performance will also be
evaluated and compared to the original expectations.
Although the actual electricity storage device itself is of high
interest to the DOEs Energy Storage Program, even more
important is the functioning of a fully integrated system
designed to meet the requirements of a particular application.
Consequently, the focus of the analysis is on the turnkey performance of each system supplied by the various contractors
selected under the two programs.
The data management contractors are also responsible for
developing and maintaining a Web site for routine review by
the general public and other groups interested in the performance of the systems.

Conclusions and Outlook

The collaboration between the states of California and New
York and the DOEs Energy Storage Research Program is
proving to be an outstanding success. The administrative hurdles were smoothly resolved and technical management of
the projects is well underway. The states contribution
amounts to some US$6.4 million, while the DOE share is
US$2.1 million. Most gratifyingly, the cost share from the
private sector is a sizable US$8.2 million.
The selected projects show a good portfolio of advanced
energy storage media: a ZnBr flow battery, the NaS battery,
supercapacitors, and flywheels. The applications are equally
varied: mitigation of substation congestion, grid frequency control, load management, and stabilization of a microgrid. The
demonstration projects are intended to last for a three-year perimarch/april 2005

od. After that, some may be dismantled, others may continue to

be monitored, and some may become permanent installations.
One direction for future projects immediately suggests
itself. Ambitious mandates for renewable energy are either
enacted or being considered by California and New York.
In California, the law requires 20% renewables by 2017.
More stringent goals are being sought by the CEC. In New
York, a renewable share of 25% is under negotiation. Such
a large amount of intermittent energy is difficult to accommodate on a grid. Energy storage, however, can make
renewables a useful, dispatchable part of the system. Storage for renewables offers itself as a natural topic for future
collaborative initiatives.
Another direction for potential collaborations is of
course the rest of the United States. Although the East Coast
and the West Coast have been involved, DOE would welcome similar initiatives throughout the country. Such collaborations need not be with individual states but could well
include several states; New England and the midwestern
states suggest themselves.
State/federal collaborations can become an important tool
for bridging the gap between research and the market place.
Energy storage intends to make full use of this opportunity. It
is to be hoped that the projects undertaken as part of these
collaborations will become the vanguard of many more storage facilities in future.

For Further Reading

M. Farber De Anda, J.D. Boyes, and W. Torres, Lessons
learned from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority battery energy storage system, Sandia National Laboratories,
Albuquerque, NM, Rep. SAND99-2232, Sept. 1999 [Online].
Available: http://www.sandia.gov/ess
K. Hamachi LaCommare and J.H. Eto, Understanding
the cost of power interruptions to U.S. electricity consumers,
Ernst Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, CA, Rep. LBNL-55718, Sept. 2004 [Online].
Available: http://www.sandia.gov/ess
J.J. Iannucci, J.M. Eyer, and G.P. Corey, Energy Storage
Benefits and Market Analysis Handbook, A Study for the
DOE Energy Storage Systems Program, Sandia National
Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, Rep. SAND-2004-6177,
Dec. 2004 [Online]. Available: http://www.sandia.gov/ess
EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission
and Distribution Applications, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, EPRI-10011834, Dec. 2003.

Biographies
Imre Gyuk manages the Energy Storage Research Program
in the Department of Energys Office of Electrical Transmission and Distribution. After graduate studies at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, he received a Ph.D. in
theoretical physics from Purdue University. He has taught

march/april 2005

physics, architecture, and engineering at Syracuse University, New York, the University of Wisconsin, and Kuwait University. Besides his present work in energy storage, he has
also done research in particle physics, groundwater dynamics, and metallurgy.
Pramod Kulkarni is the manager for Industrial, Agriculture & Water (IAW) Energy Efficiency RD&D, part of the
Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program at the California Energy Commission (CEC). He is also the manager for
the Electric Energy Storage Initiative for the PIER program.
Pramod has been at the CEC for the last 14 years. He has
worked in the field of renewable energy, energy technology
development, and energy project financing for the past 25
years. His educational background includes a B.S., an M.S,
and an M.B.A.
Joseph H. Sayer received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cooper Union, New York City, 1966 and a Ph.D. in
materials science from Syracuse University, New York, in
1973. He joined the synthetic fuels development effort at
Exxon Research & Engineering Company in Baytown,
Texas, and in Florham Park, New Jersey. In 1984 he began
his career with the New York State Energy Research &
Development Authority in the utility and environmental
research groups and is currently senior project manager in
the power systems research program.
John D. Boyes is the manager of the Energy Storage Systems Program at Sandia National Laboratories. He has
degrees in mechanical engineering and a background in
design engineering, system engineering, and project and engineering management. He has been with Sandia National Laboratories for 27 years, spending 18 of them in the pulsed
power and inertial confinement fusion areas. He joined the
Energy Storage Systems Program in 1998, becoming program
manager in 1999.
Garth P. Corey is a principal member of the technical staff
at Sandia National Laboratories; he is assigned project management responsibilities with the Energy Storage Systems
Department. Garth completed a B.S.E.E.with the University of
Wyoming in 1969 and an M.S.E.E. with the Air Force Institute
of Technology in 1971. In addition to his activities in power
quality and battery energy storage, he is actively working with
battery manufacturers and photovoltaic and other renewables
integrators in trying to resolve serious lead-acid battery applications problems currently hampering the successful use of
battery storage with small renewable energy systems.
Georgianne H. Peek is a registered professional mechanical engineer and a project manager professional. She has
worked for Sandia National Laboratories for over 18 years.
She received a B.S.M.E. from New Mexico State University,
Las Cruces. For the last three years, she has been a project
manager in the Energy Storage and Distributed Energy
Resources Department at Sandia, working mostly for the
Electrical Energy Storage Program.
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