Energy storage encompasses a range of technologies that use mechanical, chemical, or thermal processes to absorb energy, store it, and then dispatch it as useful. Technologies include batteries, capacitors, flywheels, compressed air energy storage, pumped storage, hydrogen storage, and heating and cooling energy storage.
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Benefits of Energy Storage: Energy storage offers reliability, flexibility, and efficiency of usage, which makes it easier to integrate clean energy sources in the electrical grid system. Storage deployment has the potential to deliver huge savings to Massachusetts ratepayers by reducing energy costs, peak capacity, the cost of ancillary services, wholesale market costs, transmission and distribution costs, and costs associated with the integration of distributed energy resources.
Energy Storage Use Cases: There is currently a wide range of potential use cases for energy storage technologies in Massachusetts. Use cases include ownership of storage assets by investor-owned utilities or municipal light plants, residential, commercial, or industrial behind the meter deployments, and microgrid and resiliency related deployments.
Contact Information: Please reach out to energystorage@masscec.com if you have any questions regarding our energy storage related programming.
MassCEC Energy Storage Activities
MassCEC has been supporting the advancement of energy storage technologies and companies in Massachusetts for several years. MassCEC has financially supported 28 companies and projects with a focus on energy storage technology through various programs and has invested more than $9.1 million in total in energy storage.
Policy Framework
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Energy Storage Initiative: Launched by the Baker Administration in 2015, the ESI allocated state funding for an energy storage study and demonstration projects. The study, State of Charge, was published by MassCEC and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) in 2016. The Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage Program (ACES) was launched by MassCEC in 2017; see “Active Programs” section below.
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Energy Storage Target: Following Governor Baker's signing of An Act Relative to Energy Diversity, DOER set an energy storage target for Massachusetts electric distribution companies of 200 Megawatt hours (MWh) to be achieved by 2020.
Active MassCEC Programs
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Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage (ACES): Supports energy storage projects in Massachusetts that demonstrate innovative energy storage use cases and business models.
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Solar + Storage for Manufacturers: Currently providing up to 50 free site assessments to evaluate the potential financial benefits for owners of small-to-medium manufacturing/industrial facilities in Massachusetts that install solar plus storage systems OR energy storage systems only.
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Resilient Service Stations Challenge: Focused on projects that will deploy commercialized energy resilience technologies to demonstrate innovative business models for delivering resilience, risk management, clean energy, and other benefits to gas stations in Massachusetts so they can continue to provide critical services in the event of an extended electric grid failure.
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Moon Island (Energy Storage Safety): Supports a solar plus storage, or storage only system, for the Boston Fire Department’s training location on Moon Island in Quincy, Massachusetts. The installation will be used primarily to provide code compliance and energy storage safety training to first responders, and will also provide energy security to the facilities.
Other Programs:
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Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative: Part of the Commonwealth’s climate adaption and mitigation efforts, this $40 million dollar grant program is administered by DOER and targeted at providing clean energy technologies, including energy storage, to municipalities to increase their resiliency.
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Peak Demand Reduction Grant Program: Administered by DOER, the program looks to fund projects that will help manage peak demand issues in Massachusetts.
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Development of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program: Currently under development, this program will be a new long-term solar incentive program administered by DOER
Additional Resources
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State of Charge Study: Funded by the Energy Storage Initiative and published by MassCEC and DOER in 2016, the report studies the potential benefits of incorporating energy storage technologies into Massachusetts’ energy portfolio.
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Energy Storage Safety Information: Research from the State of Charge report indicates that developing energy storage safety codes, standards, and regulations is essential to ensuring a robust market and facilitating the smooth deployment of energy storage.
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Related Technology Focuses: Related focus areas include the ongoing Grid Modernization process in Massachusetts, and the continued integration of Distributed Energy Resources.
