Joining the charge: Southern California Edison pushes for battery breakthroughs
As California significantly expands its renewable energy goals and clean-energy storage capacity, investor-owned utility Southern California Edison (SCE) has joined the charge to accelerate breakthrough energy storage technologies.
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Credit: grThirteen |
As part of an independent public-private partnership, SCE joins the University of California – San Diego and CalCharge in working to develop the right batteries for the right applications -- whether incorporating intermittent renewable energy into the grid, expanding clean transportation, or decarbonizing people's lives. CalCharge is an independent public-private partnership whose goal is to accelerate the development, commercialization, and adoption of new energy storage technologies.
"The California Senate just passed a law upping the state's renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent by 2030 and better batteries are integral to meeting this new goal," said Danny Kennedy, president of CalCharge. "The resources and expertise at Southern California Edison and UC San Diego are a valuable addition to the CalCharge family and bring us closer to building a new economy where clean energy is maximized -- and is affordable and accessible to everyone."
SCE, CalCharge's first utility member, joins a roster that ranges from Bay Area start-ups to multinational giants like Toyota Motor Corporation and the electronics manufacturer Bosch. As a CalCharge member, SCE will have streamlined access to scientists and facilities at world-class institutions, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
"Together we can seek a future where energy use is cleaner and more reliable, our customer choice is plentiful and our customer lives will be better," Stuart Hemphill, senior vice president of power supply and operational services at SCE, said at the Energy Storage North America Conference. "We need to up our game, too, if we're going to meet the needs of the 21st century grid, and we're going to need [energy storage companies'] help there."
SCE made headlines last year when, in a bid to meet a landmark directive to California investor-owned utilities to put 1.325 GW of storage on the grid by 2020, it completed the largest grid-connected energy storage purchase in U.S. history.
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