“This modernization plan is truly an incredible feat and consistent with our commitment as leaders to keep sustainability at the forefront of every project that takes place in Manatee County. It’s why we continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with FPL to help do our part to shape Florida’s clean energy future.”
The Manatee Energy Storage Center will also serve an important publicity project as renewable energy technologies such as solar will quickly be shown to be a reliable replacement for traditional generation technologies such as coal and natural gas.
Combining solar and storage allows a solar generation to no longer be quite so tied to variable weather conditions and can dispatch electricity as needed by way of stored power in its co-located batteries.
In doing so, utilities are shining a spotlight on the lie that only fossil fuel generation can provide dispatch power and grid stability services, further undermining the already lacklustre arguments against renewable energy technologies and in support of fossil fuels.
“The way we generate, store, transport and use electricity is being reinvented,” said Temperince Morgan, executive director of the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
“New technology, like large-scale battery storage, is a critical step on the path to a cleaner, cheaper and more efficient energy future. Achieving this outcome is critical to the well-being of our economy, our communities, and our planet.”
The growth of solar + storage projects has been rapidly supported by dramatic cost reductions in battery storage. This was seen most recently and most dramatically in the latest Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCoE) figures published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance last week which showed that the LCoE for lithium-ion batteries dropped 35% in 2018 to US$187/MWh.
As batteries become cheaper, more renewable energy projects can begin to co-locate with battery projects to smooth electricity output and provide grid stability services.
