Ice-based energy storage system and VPP seeks deployment
Nostromo Energy, a US-based tech company, is developing an ice-based energy storage system that can operate as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to provide demand flexibility to the local power grid when needed.
The company’s IceBrick system is an energy storage solution aiming to decarbonise commercial and industrial (C&I) buildings and the power grid.
To develop the solution, the company yesterday announced that it was invited by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Programs Office (LPO) to submit a Part II application for a loan guarantee under the Title XVII Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program.
From the programme, a proposed $189 million loan guarantee would support their Energy Storage-as-a-Service (ESaaS) offering, designed to accelerate deployment of the IceBrick system, which they describe as a large-scale, behind-the-meter and modular cold energy storage technology.
The IceBrick systems will be centrally managed by Nostromo’s Cirrus cloud-based management system, and operate as a VPP to provide demand flexibility to the local power grid.
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If approved, the loan would help finance installation of the system in up to 120 C&I buildings in California and other US states, with an aggregated capacity of 100MW/275MWh. The loan guarantee is subject to completion of an equity capital raise for an amount yet to be determined.
Concurrently, Nostromo appointed investment bank Independence Point Securities as an exclusive advisor for raising the equity capital for the project.
“If the application successfully proceeds to a loan guarantee, the DOE’s and LPO’s support will help us accelerate commercial deployment of our novel energy storage technology for behind-the-meter installation, which is critical for both balancing and decarbonising the power grid,” said Yoram Ashery, CEO at Nostromo Energy.
“We’re looking forward to working with Independence Point to quickly finalise the equity financing component of the project, so we can begin catalysing the much needed decarbonisation of the existing building stock.”
C&I segment
According to Nostromo, buildings, overall, account for 74% of all electricity consumption.
However, C&I buildings have fallen significantly behind other energy storage segments, accounting in California for only 1% of total new storage capacity in 2021, compared to 93% in front of the meter (utility scale) and 6% in residential homes.
The C&I sector’s cooling energy demands accounts for approximately half of a building’s energy use and more than a third of the total potential for load shifting by behind-the-meter storage on the power grid.
Thus, Nostromo cites how their ice-based energy storage system would be uniquely positioned for deployment in the sector, lowering building’s energy costs and carbon emissions, enabling more EV charging capacity and providing resilience during extreme weather.
