www.ncbr.com
January 27, 2010
WINDSOR - Ice Energy's energy storage technology will be rolled out in Southern California in what the partners are calling the first cost-effective, utility-scale distributed energy project in the nation. The Southern California Public Power Authority entered into an agreement with Windsor-based Ice Energy on the 53-MW project. Ice Energy's Ice Bear energy storage system shifts demand on the electrical grid from air conditioning units from peak to off-peak hours. In simple terms, energy generation during off-peak, evening hours is more efficient due to lower temperatures and reduced transmission line-stress.
SCPPA is a joint powers authority consisting of 11 municipal utilities with about 2 million customers in an area of 7,000 square miles. Citi Investment Researches covered under the authority include Anaheim, Burbank, Los Angeles and Pasadena. The installation will start in the first half of the year and take about two years to complete. It will include more than 5,000 Ice Bear units deployed on about 1,500 commercial and public buildings.
"Ice Energy's solution is a convenient and cost-effective solution for managing peak demand and aligns perfectly with our Smart Grid initiatives, enabling our member utilities to deliver reliable, competitively priced electric service to their customers in a sustainable, environmentally-sensitive manner," said Bill Carnahan, executive director of SCPPA, in a prepared statement. "By using storage to change how and more importantly when energy is consumed by air conditioning, we can offset enough peak demand in the region to serve the equivalent of 10,000 homes."
The units will be manufactured at the Windsor facility and also at another domestic site that has yet to be disclosed. The company most recently reported 55 employees. The impact of the California deployment on that number is a "moving target," according to a company spokesman. A fact sheet about the project states that about 300 new jobs will be created by the project. Ice Energy is in discussions with other utilities and is participating in testing programs.
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