Wind Energy

Energy Storage and American Wind Energy Industries Release Joint Principles for Clean Energy

The Electricity Storage Association (ESA), the preeminent trade association dedicated to fostering the development and commercialization of energy storage technologies, and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the national trade association representing wind farm project developers, equipment suppliers, services providers, parts manufacturers, utilities, researchers, and others involved in the wind power industry – have released joint principles crafted by the two industries to create a level playing field for the deployment of clean energy technologies.

Both ESA and AWEA have strongly advocated for public policies that level the playing field and remove barriers to market entry for clean energy technologies, allowing them to compete with traditional energy resources. The jointly agreed-upon principles recognize the value of energy storage across the utility industry, the benefit of storage as a source of ancillary services, and the need to strategically utilize storage on wind farms.

"ESA feels strongly about advocating for the use of energy storage to modernize the power grid," said Brad Roberts, Executive Director of ESA. "Our policymakers need to understand the potential for these resources to improve our electric grid reliability, while creating jobs and stimulating American innovation and manufacturing. While wind energy makes our grid cleaner, energy storage makes our grid more flexible and reliable."

"Large amounts of wind energy are being reliably and cost-effectively integrated onto the power system today," said Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA. "Energy storage can be a valuable resource for the power system in maximizing the efficient use of this resource, and add flexibility for electric utilities. We look forward to working closely with ESA on regulatory policy that will enable these growing industries to fully benefit both consumers and the economy of the U.S."

Specific policies supported by ESA and AWEA include:

Wholesale energy markets and ancillary services markets should be created and expanded, and barriers to entry into those markets eliminated.

Market and operating rules should be based around the type of service needed, and any technology that is able to reliably provide a needed service should be able to provide it. In many cases, previously bundled services should be disaggregated.

Low cost grid operating reforms that will create more competition and make the grid operate more efficiently, such as greater balancing are coordination and faster generator dispatch intervals, should be implemented as soon as possible.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the ESA is a 501(c)(6) trade association, formed in 1996. ESA’s membership is comprised of a diverse group of electric utilities; energy service companies (ESCOs); independent power producers (IPPs); energy storage technology developers and suppliers; and those in the energy storage research community. The ESA Advocacy Council currently has ten founding members, including: A123 Systems, Inc., AES Energy Storage, Altairnano, Aquion Energy, Beacon Power, FIAMM, Prudent Energy Corporation, S&C Electric Company, Saft America, Inc., and Xtreme Power.

AWEA is the national trade association of America’s wind industry, with more than 2,500 member companies, including global leaders in wind power and energy development, wind turbine manufacturing, component and service suppliers. AWEA sponsors the world’s largest wind power trade show, WINDPOWER, to be held next in Atlanta, Georgia, June 3-6, 2012. AWEA is the voice of wind energy in the U.S., promoting renewable energy to power a cleaner, stronger America.

www.awea.org/