Two National Grid Projects Selected as Energy Storage North America 2019 Innovation Award Winner

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SAN DIEGO, Calif. – National Grid today announced that two of its energy storage projects have been recognized as Energy Storage North America (ESNA) 2019 Innovation Award winners in the categories of microgrids and behind-the-meter projects.  The projects were chosen for their innovation and leadership in energy storage, as well as a positive impact on the energy storage industry.

The two winning projects included National Grid’s Nantucket Battery Energy Storage facility commissioned last month for the microgrid category, and the company’s Connected Solutions battery program for the behind the meter category.  

The island of Nantucket in Massachusetts traditionally receives its electricity from undersea supply cables from the mainland, but because of rapid growth on the island, summer energy demand has grown dramatically in recent years.  To ensure electric reliability for customers during peak summer months and defer the need for an additional expensive underwater supply cable to the island, National Grid installed a 6-megawatt (MW)/48 megawatt-hour (MWh) Battery Energy Storage System.  It is the largest battery storage system in New England and was built by Tesla. 

The Connected Solutions project, launched by National Grid in June 2018, was the nation’s first performance-based residential Bring Your Own Battery demand response program. The program provides residential and small business battery owners across Massachusetts and Rhode Island with incentives ranging from $250-400 per kilowatt-hour a year in exchange for providing the unused capacity to support National Grid’s distribution network objectives. With the goal of enrolling 800 customers by 2022, the program is on track to provide a substantial resource for grid flexibility.  National Grid partnered with EnergyHub to execute the Bring Your Own Battery program along with Pika Energy, Solar Edge, Sonnen, Sunrun, and Tesla.

“We’re striving to develop and implement cost-effective leading-edge solutions that not only usher in the clean energy future but also provide real benefits for our customers in terms of cost-savings and safe, reliable energy to their homes and businesses,” said Marcy L. Reed, president of National Grid for Massachusetts.  “We’re proud to be recognized by ESNA for our efforts and will work with customers and partners to continue developing more innovative solutions like these.”

Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the largest annual gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, recognized the winners of its 2019 Innovation Awards at the San Diego Convention Center. Winners were selected through online public voting, for which over 2,500 votes were cast. National Grid won two of the three awards presented.  The other Innovation award category was for a Front-of-the-Meter program. More information on the award-winning projects and champions can be found online at https://esnaexpo.com/awards/finalists.

“The winners of this year’s ESNA Awards have each played an integral role in advancing the energy storage ecosystem through impactful programs, projects, technologies or policies,” said Janice Lin, Energy Storage North America Conference Chair. “Their work is paving the way for the global transition to a clean, resilient, and reliable grid. By opening new markets and solving real-world problems for customers and the grid, these projects and industry leaders continue to propel our industry toward unprecedented innovation and growth.”