National Grid to connect 150GWh of DER capacity in New England grid
A new deal reached will enable US utility National Grid to leverage distributed energy resources (DERs) for the stability of the grid network in New England.
National Grid has partnered with residential solar and storage company Sunnova Energy and SolarEdge Technologies to use the companies’ distributed resources for an efficient grid network in the region.
Sunnova’s aggregated residential solar and storage portfolio delivers over 150GWh of clean energy per year to New England’s homeowners, which will now be integrated with National Grid’s main network. The DERs will provide voltage support across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Michael Grasso, EVP, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Sunnova, said: “This first of its kind solution aims to save homeowners money, increase New England’s grid efficiency and support National Grid on its path to achieving Net Zero by 2050.”
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The agreement and partnership comes at a time when the deployment of DERs is intensifying, as the model is expected to play a key role in helping the state to meet decarbonisation and sustainability goals.
Solar energy and battery storage are expected to provide the much-needed flexible energy for stable and low-carbon energy networks of the future. Massachusetts and New England have in the past ten years deployed 838MW and 58MW of DER capacity, respectively, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.
In addition, DERs will enable consumers to actively participate in the energy transition and help them generate revenue from selling excess electricity into main grids. This partnership will enable National Grid to reduce distribution system losses and high capital costs associated with the development of new energy generation infrastructure to meet growing energy demands.
National Grid aims to accelerate the use of renewables on its grid to reduce its own direct greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Alexandra Lewis, Group Treasurer of National Grid, said: “Adding more renewable energy to the grid is just one of the many ways in which National Grid is supporting the transition towards a cleaner energy landscape.”
Lewis was commenting on a $150 million Portfolio Revolving facility announced by Emerald Energy Venture that will also be used to fund clean energy projects set to be developed by National Grid Renewables.
