APPA Grant Helps CPS Energy Test Performance Of Energy Storage Solution

CPS Energy, the San Antonio, Texas, public power utility, has installed a project to test the performance of an energy storage system using a grant from the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program.

CPS, with its partner, Yotta Energy, installed a small-scale applied technology project at the Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston Military Post. As part of the demonstration project, Yotta Energy will test the performance of its energy storage system in the Texas heat and its demand response features as a distributed energy resource (DER).

The DEED project will help CPS better understand how Yotta Energy’s renewable energy storage solution can lower costs for utility customers who elect to install distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar systems with battery storage by eliminating the need for onsite battery storage buildings while enabling the stabilization of an intermittent energy sources such as solar power.

The findings of the demonstration project will be used to provide insights on Yotta Energy’s integrated storage technology for CPS Energy. The performance data and feedback from the project will help Yotta make improvements to the features it offers in its forthcoming commercial product delivery, slated for early 2022, and for future commercial designs.

“CPS Energy is constantly searching for innovative technologies and proud to collaborate with Yotta Energy on this small-scale applied technology demonstration,” Frank Almaraz, chief power, sustainability and business development officer at CPS Energy, said in a statement. “The possibility of having a battery storage system attached to the actual solar panels excites us. It moves us one step closer to deploying cleaner, more resilient energy in our community that’s integrated and uses far less real estate.”

“We are excited to team up with CPS Energy, the largest public power company in San Antonio, to test and demonstrate the performance of our energy storage technology,” Omeed Badkoobeh, CEO of Yotta Energy, said in a statement. “Our team is also grateful for the grant funding from APPA because it will allow us to document, report, and validate our energy storage system’s performance under real-world conditions.”

CPS Energy is exploring a variety of alternative technologies, including energy storage solutions, as it deploys its Flexible Path resource plan that aims to move the San Antonio area to a decarbonized future by 2050 or sooner.