Mitsubishi Power Bagged Storage Orders Worth 151,000 MWh in Americas in 2020

Mitsubishi Power has claimed the number one market share position in the Americas in 2020 with 151,000 MWh in energy storage orders

Mitsubishi Power has claimed the number one market share position in the Americas in 2020 with orders for 151,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage capacity of all durations. The all-duration category covers utility-scale and behind-the-meter technologies including battery, pumped hydro, and green hydrogen storage. 

The energy storage market is experiencing rapid growth. To provide context, between 2012 and 2019 the United States installed just 3,200 MWh of energy storage capacity according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables/US Energy Storage Association. Mitsubishi Power’s announced orders in 2020 for an additional 151,000 MWh of storage capacity, therefore, represent a substantial increase.

The firm provides both short-duration battery energy storage systems and long-duration green hydrogen energy storage systems.

Short-duration lithium-ion-based energy storage provides multiple services in power markets including dispatchable peak capacity, firming of intermittent renewable resources, ancillary services, energy price arbitrage, and transmission and distribution (T&D) congestion solutions. 

The firm received orders for 920 MWh of short-duration lithium-ion battery energy storage systems in 2020. Storage developers Key Capture Energy and Hecate Grid selected Mitsubishi Power as their integrator for projects in Texas and California, respectively. In addition, the State University of New York, with project oversight by the New York Power Authority, selected the firms’ subsidiary Oriden to provide a behind-the-meter photovoltaic solar-plus-storage solution at the SUNY Fredonia Campus. These projects will all enter commercial operation in 2021. 

The firm also has additional undisclosed orders pending announcement.

Utility-scale green hydrogen projects can store renewable energy over long periods of time, ranging from hours to seasons, to provide dispatchable and cost-effective carbon-free energy when power grids with heavy renewable power penetration need it most. 

A first mover for stored renewable energy in the form of green hydrogen is the Intermountain Power Agency’s 840 MW Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah. In March 2020 IPA ordered Mitsubishi Power JAC gas turbine power islands for which the firm guaranteed the ability to use 30 percent green hydrogen fuel. In a separate project, Magnum Development selected Mitsubishi Power as its partner to develop the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah. This project will use renewable power and electrolysis to produce green hydrogen that will be stored in a salt cavern with the capacity to store 150,000 MWh of renewable energy for long-duration energy storage. The Intermountain Power Project and the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project are scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2025.

Paul Browning, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas, said, “Demand for energy storage is being driven by the rapid build-out of renewable power generation. As the energy storage market takes off in the Americas and around the world, so is Mitsubishi Power’s energy storage business. As power producers, developers, and utilities set targets for net-zero carbon emissions, they are recognizing the value of having an energy storage integrator with deep experience in all the technologies they need to seamlessly integrate power generation and energy storage of all durations. Mitsubishi Power has this unique experience. Together with our customers, we are creating a Change in Power.”