PJM would create rules allowing batteries, flywheels and other advanced energy storage technologies to participate in its capacity market under a problem statement presented to the Markets and Reliability Commission on first reading Thursday.
The proposal was introduced by Janette Kessler Dudley of Demansys Energy, which aggregates commercial and industrial customers for participation in the regulation market.
Dudley said the purpose of the problem statement is to establish enrollment procedures. Because advanced storage technologies — which also include thermal storage and compressed air — are still being developed, rules should not be limited to current products, she said.
In its second performance assessment of PJM’s capacity market, The Brattle Group recommended the RTO develop such rules: “Although the primary driver behind the development of these devices is to provide additional ancillary services to balance the grid, these resources could also participate in RPM.”
To do so, Brattle said, PJM will have to incorporate different ways for calculating capacity values. “Storage devices may be able to provide two types of capacity products: (1) an annual product, for devices that can sustain their capacity value for at least 10 hours; and (2) a limited product for devices that can sustain their capacity value for at least 6 but less than 10 hours.”
John Brodbeck, of Pepco, said he agreed PJM should consider the issue. “But we’re busy and here it is August. I don’t think there should be any changes” expected before the next base capacity auction in April, he said.
Energy storage received a boost from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July with an order requiring PJM and other transmission providers to consider speed and accuracy in acquiring regulation resources. The order will make batteries, flywheels and other emerging technologies more competitive against slower-responding gas- and coal-fired generators in the regulation market. (See FERC Rule Boosts Storage, Renewables.)
