The New York Power Authority (NYPA) in White Plains unveiled a new lithium-ion energy storage project funded in part by NYSERDA used as a demonstration project for further energy storage deployment. Cadenza Innovation developed the battery technology.
“Safe battery storage paired with renewable energy sources will be necessary for New York to meet its nation-leading clean energy targets,” said NYPA President and CEO Gil C. Quiniones. “NYPA is pleased to collaborate with Cadenza Innovation and NYSERDA in investigating this unique proof-of-concept storage project, which could be a real game-changer in the promotion of safety and cost savings as we develop new, cleaner technologies to fight climate change and advance a safe, sustainable grid of the future.”
The project will further Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s clean energy agenda, which has an energy storage target of 3 GW on the electric grid by 2030. Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) passed last year, New York State is mandated to achieve 70% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040.
Now in place following extensive development, testing and certification, the fully integrated, metal-enclosed and rack-mounted 250-kWh, 50-kW battery unit from Cadenza Innovation will shave the Power Authority office’s peak electricity demand for up to five hours while delivering a cost-effective, high-performance energy storage solution.
The total cost of the research and development project will be approximately $3 million. NYSERDA provided $1 million in support with Cadenza contributing the majority of remainder. NYPA contributed approximately $50,000 in addition to hosting the site, performing extensive research, and sharing its development and engineering expertise.
“NYSERDA is proud to support Cadenza’s energy storage project through our Innovation program as part of our efforts to scale up solutions that will accelerate our transition to a 100% zero-emission electric grid under Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading clean energy goals,” said NYSERDA Acting President and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “Cadenza’s demonstration project can serve as a model for future energy storage projects and supports New York State’s comprehensive approach to accelerating the market learning curve, driving down costs, and speeding up the deployment of the highest-value energy storage projects to deliver maximum benefits to New Yorkers and the electric grid.”
The technology is based on Cadenza Innovation’s UL-listed supercell battery architecture that substantially reduces the risk of propagation of thermal runaway while packaging components to lower costs and increase safety, resulting in a design that improves energy density and advances the Li-ion battery industry. Under the project, NYPA, the largest state public power organization in the nation, will investigate the effectiveness of the energy storage system at reducing the peak load typical of a commercial building. Once demonstrated, the system could be replicated at other businesses throughout New York State and beyond.
“Li-ion batteries are the most readily available and widely deployed technology to enable energy storage deployments for commercial and industrial markets, the grid and other applications,” said Cadenza Innovation Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud. “It’s vital that safety be as much of a priority as performance and affordability and our team has reinvented Li-ion batteries to deliver best-in-class capabilities in all three areas. By working closely with NYPA and Hitachi ABB Power Grids, we’re excited to showcase that our platform delivers on what it promises and is ready for wide-scale use to help drive the transformation to cleaner energy sources.”
“We are delighted to collaborate with Cadenza to implement this innovative solution to help demonstrate the security of power supplies and further support NYPA’s goals for integration of renewable energy,” said Helena Garriga, head of Global Product Group Power & Industry Components, Hitachi ABB Power Grids. “Energy storage solutions will be a key part of the future grid in order to efficiently utilize renewable energy.”
“Cadenza is developing a very important technology that will help us to meet our goals in New York State and around the world,” said William Acker, executive director, The New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology (NY-BEST) Consortium. “This project is consequential because it really enables what we’re trying to do with the future of energy storage in the electricity system.”
Direct from the Cadenza site: “Novel and proprietary, non-combustible ceramic fiber material formulations with high levels of fire retardant.”
Might work pretty well in White Plains, try Phoenix Arizona over several summers and see how well this technology works under extreme heat conditions. Electrolyte volatility needs to be effectively addressed and still keep the higher energy density one gains with these volatile chemistries. Using electrolytic slurries to solid state remedies can allow these battery packs to have less overhead stacked on the battery cost alone. The utility scale energy storage systems today have a BMS, sometimes a PCS, air conditioning, fire suppression system and remote telemetry crammed into the storage enclosure. The more stable the chemistry, the less needs to be spent on ancillary controls and cost adders.