According to foreign media reports, the Vermont government in the United States recently signed and approved an energy storage plan, which means that Green Mountain Power will implement two energy storage plans simultaneously to promote user side energy storage applications. The long-term plan of GMP is to replace electricity meters with battery energy storage systems.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
The BYOD program is an open incentive system designed for customers who wish to add batteries. The project selects 500 customers who purchase their own batteries through local installers each year and provides up to $10500 in upfront reward funds, which can support up to 5MW of energy storage devices. The prerequisite is that the participating customers agree to provide their energy storage system with electricity during peak demand periods to meet electricity demand and thereby reduce electricity prices. And in this project, customers can freely choose from a relatively rich list of battery suppliers.
Tesla Powerwall
The Powerwall project allows customers to rent energy storage systems at a fixed price, which can save a lot of costs compared to standard installation methods. It is understood that Tesla's Powerwall energy storage system has an energy storage capacity of 13.5 kWh. The project also supports 500 users to install 1000 sets of Powerwall energy storage systems each year, with a total of 5MW/13.5 MWh. Participating customers can choose to rent two Powerwall battery systems at a monthly price of $55 for a period of 10 years (which can be extended to 15 years without additional fees), or choose to prepay $5500 to obtain a 10-year usage period for the two Powerwall battery energy storage systems. However, customers also need to agree to participate in demand response during peak electricity demand periods.
According to reports, since announcing GMP's partnership with Tesla, the utility company GMP has installed some Powerwall batteries in its service area for peak shaving. GMP stated that in July 2018, by convening approximately 500 Powerwall battery energy storage systems to participate in the summer power peak demand, it saved $500000 in electricity bills for all electricity customers. In the 2019 Powerwall project, over 1000 registration applications were received from users.
Energy storage system replaces electricity meter
According to Green Mountain Power's previous statement, this incentive program for energy storage has another important significance. They hope to replace electric meters with battery energy storage systems in the future through an 18 month testing period.
According to reports, states such as Virginia and Kentucky have rejected plans to increase smart meter or advanced meter infrastructure, citing concerns about costs and net benefits.
According to GMP CEO Mary Powell, GMP has started to view battery energy storage systems as a means to disrupt the current metering model. GMP is committed to developing the function of reading energy consumption data through Powerwall energy storage system, and is attempting to apply for relevant special rights. In the future, a battery energy storage system with the function of measuring energy consumption will be installed in each residential area to help power companies manage electricity load and promote the integration of renewable resources into the grid.