by Brianna Crandall — November 9, 2016 — Last week, leaders in renewable energy, including investors and corporate consumers, gathered at the American Council On Renewable Energy’s ACORE Finance West event in San Francisco to help accelerate policies and investments that boost renewable energy in the Western United States. New research was also released on energy storage and power purchase agreements with a focus on the West’s renewable energy markets.
Senior executives from leading companies like NIKE, Google, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup joined California’s energy regulators in a discussion of the top priorities for accelerating renewable energy development in the West, amid economic and political uncertainty. The discussion was particularly timely, with the Paris Agreement on climate change entering into force on November 4, notes ACORE.
Participants discussed how to accelerate renewables deployment in California and across the West. Sessions focused on major tech companies’ central role in expanding renewable procurement; updating the renewable energy investment outlook; regionalizing the Western energy grid; and attracting more long-term capital to projects in the West. The event also addressed leading-edge policy developments in California, the Western states and globally, and their likely impact on renewable energy.
ACORE Finance West also saw the release of new original research on pressing issues in the Western USA energy space. These include:
1. Beyond Renewable Integration: The Energy Storage Value Proposition, a new report developed by ACORE and management consulting firm ScottMadden. Highlights from the Energy Storage Value Proposition report include:
- Overall price reduction estimates for energy storage range between 12% and 15% per year, with the cost of some technologies dropping by up to 50% within the next five years.
- Two markets (including California) accounted for 82% of the U.S. annual installed energy storage capacity in 2015, and California’s 1.3 GW by 2020 mandate for storage is among the key policies driving additional deployment in the West.
- Energy storage is providing clear economic value in areas where storage provides a direct benefit to the system, and where markets or rate structures exist that have clear mechanisms to monetize those benefits.
- In addition to its primary application, many energy storage systems provide benefits to the power system including operational flexibility and enhanced reliability. However, benefits provided to the grid are not always included in cost-benefit analyses, and as a result the potential value of storage is only partially recognized in today’s markets. Changing this will help storage reach its full potential.
2. Corporate and Industrial Renewable Energy PPA Guidebook, a new tool for companies looking to buy renewable energy directly from producers through power purchase agreements, or PPAs:
- Developed by ACORE and members of its Corporate Procurement Working Group, this report serves as a guide to the often complex PPA process and is designed to expand the recent trend of companies procuring renewables directly from producers.
- The PPA Guidebook includes specific explanations and draft language on every element of PPAs, including structuring transactions; establishing pricing for power; determining REC certification and management; and capacity market proceeds, among others.
More on ACORE Finance West and ACORE’s Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (US PREF) is available from the organization’s Web site. The Energy Storage report and PPA Guidebook are available for free download from the site.
