Community Scale

Energy Storage is good fit with local energy systems in lowering costs and reducing a community’s carbon footprint. 

• Energy availability — A community needs consistent power.  Variable energy production currently requires the community to be able to buy power when the renewable source fluctuates.  Energy storage can be used for energy price arbitrage by communities that face hourly market prices. Besides the diurnal storage capability, energy storage can be used in any situation where significant price differences occur during the day. These price differences could occur between morning and afternoon/evening periods or between times when the system is congested (higher energy prices) and times when the system is uncongested (lower energy prices).
• Diurnal storage - Energy storage systems can be used to store energy during the night or weekends when energy prices are lower and to produce energy during the day when prices are high.
• Peak-load shaving - Communities that pay a separate demand charge can use energy storage systems to reduce daily peak load and, thus, reduce demand charges.
• Backup supply—Energy storage can be used to provide backup power to all or selected critical loads.

• Power quality—Energy storage can be configured to provide improved power quality to an entire community, to individual distribution feeders, or to individual customer loads.