California Energy Commission Awards $1.2 Million to Company for Long-Duration Energy Storage Solution

(Credit: California Energy Commission)

Indian Energy LLC, a utility-scale and microgrid development and systems integration firm, was awarded $1.2 million by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to demonstrate a non-lithium ion, long-duration energy storage solution.

According to Indian Energy, long-duration, non-lithium ion energy storage is the final key to unlocking renewables and permanently evading the blackouts and brownouts that California is currently facing due to fires, a changing energy mix and climate change. Without storage, 100% renewables penetration is not possible. To address this, the California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded a number of grants earlier this year to lead in solving these problems.

The grant was the result of CEC Solicitation GFO-19-306, “Demonstrating Long-Duration and Title 24-Compatible Energy Storage Technologies.” The purpose of this solicitation was to fund technology demonstration and the deployment of research projects that support the State of California’s “Development of Customer’s Business Proposition to Accelerate Integrated Distributed Storage Market.” The energy storage goals are aimed at rapidly advancing the deployment of state-of-the-art and 100% renewable microgrids in California. These projects involve both the installation and operation of pre-and post-commercial energy storage technologies.

Utilizing the grant funds, Indian Energy, along with partners Webcor and KE Storage Corporation (KESC), will develop an energy storage Integration and Certification Unit (VICU), located on the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay lands.