Florida Public Power Utility Gainesville Regional Utilities Interested In Energy Storage Options

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
June 22, 2022

Florida public power utility Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) recently issued a request for information (RFI) for energy storage.

The discharge duration for the energy storage facility should be at least 8 hours, the RFI said.

“While GRU is historically a summer peaking utility, it is trending towards becoming a dual season peaking utility. Load is forecast to increase both with population growth as well as greater electricity consumption due to electrification,” the RFI noted.

The energy storage system “will be used to reduce those peaks to fulfill its mission of providing reliable and affordably priced electricity.”

While long-duration batteries are of particular interest, GRU said it is open to other forms of energy storage. Geologic and geographic constraints preclude pumped storage and underground compressed air energy storage as viable choices. All other forms of energy storage will be reviewed.

The 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) made funds available for use in developing and operating certain battery storage projects. GRU is pursuing a facility that will meet the application criteria for these grants and intends to apply for funding from the Department of Energy to partially finance this project. Novel projects that will improve the GRU’s candidacy for grant funding are preferred.

The Energy Authority (TEA) is acting as facilitator of the RFI. Responses are due July 15, 2022.

The RFI is available here.

Owned by the City of Gainesville, Fla., GRU provides electric, natural gas, water, wastewater, and communication utility services.

The American Public Power Association’s Public Power Energy Tracker is a resource for association members that summarizes public power energy storage projects that are currently online. The tracker is available here.