Workshop & Guide

How could energy storage work for your community?

July 2021

By Lissa Pawlisch & Akisha Everett

Metro, MN Northeast, MN Northwest, MN Southeast, MN West Central, MN

Are you curious about how a battery storage system might help your organization? Wondering about how to even begin thinking about what kind of system would work for you?

Explore resources and a workshop recording from Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) and the Institute on the Environment (IonE) and partners geared toward helping you understand the key factors that influence the type of storage project to pursue and how to get started.

Workshop Overview

Storage Guide: During the workshop we dug into Institute on the Environment's just-released Minnesota Community-scale Energy Storage Guide as a primer and resource to move forward.
Speakers: We heard from both battery storage adopters and the companies with whom they've partnered about how they designed their projects, and what lessons learned they'd impart to others.
Discussion: The workshop then equipped those interested in community-scale battery storage with an understanding of how to begin scoping out a potential project, and helped them dive into their motivation to use a battery storage system—their "use case"—and how those factors will drive the type of battery storage system they need.

Full workshop recording with chapters

Three case studies and their use cases

Hartley Nature Center – Alison Hoxie, University of MN Duluth
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Quarry Hill Nature Center – Micah Johnson, Solar Connection
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Grand Rapids Public Utilities Commission – Julie Kennedy, GRPUC
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Community-Scale Energy Storage Guide

How Community Groups and Small Businesses Can Employ Energy Storage to Save Money and Contribute to Minnesota’s Clean Energy Transition

Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Benefits of Energy Storage
Energy Storage Batteries
Bringing Energy Storage to your Home or Community
Energy Storage Pilot Projects
Appendix
Glossary

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Video introduction to energy storage

Discussing storage costs and financing

Equipment and Costs of Battery Storage – Nate Broadbridge and Shree Pandey, Sundial Energy
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How Do Folks Pay for Community Energy Storage? – Ralph Jacobson, Impact Power Solutions
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Video about pilot projects

Guide & Presentation Downloads

UMN IonE Community-Scale Energy Storage Guide

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Hartley Nature Center - Alison Hoxie, University of MN Duluth

Download

Quarry Hill Nature Center - Micah Johnson, Solar Connection

Download

Grand Rapids Public Utilities Commission - Julie Kennedy, GRPUC

Download

Cost Considerations for Energy Storage - Nate Broadbridge & Shree Pandey, Sundial Energy

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Financing Community Energy Storage - Ralph Jacobson, Impact Power Solutions

Download

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How could energy storage work for your community?

Are you curious about how a battery storage system might help your organization? Wondering about how to even begin thinking about what kind of system would work for you?