CPS Energy is looking for contractors who can help it build or acquire up to 500 megawatts of “energy storage systems” — such as batteries — as a part of its new power generation portfolio, approved by the utility’s board of trustees earlier this year.
The municipally owned utility launched a formal request for proposals — its third this year — early last week. In May, CPS Energy launched one for up to 700 megawatts of solar generation, and in July it launched another for up to 50 megawatts of community solar. One megawatt is enough to run about 200 homes on a hot Texas day.
“We worked closely with our board of trustees and community to approve a generation plan that will provide power for our fast-growing community,” Rudy Garza, president and CEO of CPS Energy, said in a press statement. “We are casting a large net through this [request for proposals] process and are excited to secure more resources to meet that growth.”
CPS Energy’s latest request for proposals comes in the wake of a record-breaking heat for Texas, which saw the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, issue eight conservation appeals to residents. Amid record growth, Texas’ electricity demand record was broken 10 times during the summer, as well.
The utility is potentially seeking multiple partners for various projects, confirmed CPS Energy spokeswoman Dana Sotoodeh. The addition of more storage resources “strengthens the utility’s future power generation portfolio by adding flexible resources that can quickly respond to changes in customer demand or grid conditions,” CPS Energy said in the press statement.
While energy storage typically means battery systems, it can also refer to several other technologies currently available. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, other energy storage technologies include compressed air, pumped hydroelectric, flywheels or thermal energy storage.
CPS Energy intentionally issued the request for proposals with broad parameters, Sotoodeh told reporters, to see what is out in the market right now.
“We understand that battery storage systems are the type of storage most common today,” she said. “But, there are other newer technologies available, too, and we hope to be able to evaluate these proposals to see if there is value in bringing these systems on for our customers. Looking at different technologies as a diversifier, including different types of storage, makes sense from a portfolio planning perspective.”
The utility will be taking reliability, safety and price into account when deciding partners, Sotoodeh added. The goal is to have a system that makes energy usage available on demand, she said.
Energy storage systems and demand response programs add components of reliability that will hopefully help Texas’ grid reliability in the near future, said Doug Lewin, a Texas energy expert, at the Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday. Lewin said these two strategies add longer-term use to renewables, which become less available when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
“A lot of [our reliability issues] can be solved with battery storage and with demand response,” he said.
