Electric Vehicle

Energy storage is a necessity if we are going to move away from fossil fuels

CALMAC, a leader in energy storage systems, announced its support for The Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2009, H.R. 4210 (STORAGE Act of 2009). Introduced to the House by Rep. Mike Thompson [D-CA-1] and co-sponsored by Rep. David Wu [D-OR-1], the House bill was referred to the Ways and Means Committee in order to offer incentives to foster innovation and deployment of energy storage technologies for the purposes of integrating intermittent renewable energy into the grid and to reduce peak demand.

As CALMAC cited earlier this year, the need for an investment tax credit for energy storage facilities and equipment is a necessity to shift the demands on the grid.

“Energy storage is a necessity if we are going to move away from fossil fuels and change the way we consume energy,” said Mark MacCracken, CALMAC CEO and USGBC Board Member. “The STORAGE bill in both the Senate and the House will catapult the implementation of systems needed to reduce our peak energy usage, thanks in large part to credits for qualifying onsite storage.”

Such credits will be available for Qualified Onsite Energy Storage, meaning property which “provides supplemental energy to reduce peak energy requirements primarily on the same site where the storage is located,” or “is designed and used primarily to receive and store intermittent renewable energy generated onsite and to deliver such energy primarily for onsite consumption.”

Neither bill limits the type of technology that can be used, as storage systems comprise a broad range of technologies, both large and small, from compressed air systems and flywheels to thermal ice storage, hydrogen power and batteries. Storage systems can be used in a variety of ways.

CALMAC’s IceBank® Energy Storage System would fall under the umbrella set forth for the credits. The IceBank tanks shift a building’s energy demand from on-peak to off-peak times, decreasing cooling costs by up to 40 percent and reducing both source energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. 

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CALMAC Corporation is widely recognized for promoting peak energy conservation and energy cost savings. An Energy Star® Partner and USGBC member, CALMAC is a leading manufacturer of IceBank® Energy Storage equipment with over 3,300 Ice Storage installations worldwide. IceBank systems are a valuable component of the smart grid, enabling energy, including renewable wind energy that mainly blows at night, to be efficiently stored for use during periods of high demand.