Incentives for Energy Storage Projects in the US and Canada Offer a Unique Opportunity to Accelerate Decarbonization of North American Power Generation
Corre Energy B.V. has expanded its energy storage project development operations into the United States and Canada. Corre Energy US Development Company LLC, a subsidiary of Corre Energy B.V., has been formally launched to source and develop utility-scale compressed air energy storage (CAES) projects across North America.
CAES is a commercially proven technology that can use renewable energy to compress air into underground salt caverns when power demand and prices are low. This energy is later released to the grid to increase supply when demand and prices are higher, enhancing the stability, reliability, and security of the network. When combustion of green hydrogen is included as part of the CAES plant’s technical design, the electricity it supplies has a zero-carbon footprint.
The US Department of Energy ranks CAES 1 as the lowest cost long duration energy storage technology. The relatively inexpensive nature of the physical hedge provided to Corre Energy’s customers allows them to ‘time shift’ the variable energy they produce and enhance the profitability of their renewable assets. In this way, CAES facilities can support the more rapid deployment of renewable generation assets across North America, accelerating the decarbonization of the generation fleet.
In return for allowing renewable generators to store energy in its CAES plants and discharge that energy when its value is highest, Corre Energy will typically charge a set fee and share in the upside revenue earned by its customers, under what is termed an “offtake agreement.”
Keith McGrane, Chief Executive Officer of Corre Energy, commented: “Last month we signed binding commercial terms for a 15-year offtake agreement with Eneco, a leading renewable energy supplier in the Netherlands, for the entire multi-day storage capacity of ZW1, our 320-megawatt project. That agreement confirms the attractiveness of our business model and will support development of a project portfolio in North America.” McGrane added: “As the market leader for long duration energy storage projects in Europe, we look forward to transferring our knowhow into the US and Canada. Our North American operations will also provide opportunities for investors mainly focused on the North American market to participate in financing the debt and equity requirements of our North American subsidiary and its CAES projects.”
Chet Lyons, a pioneer in the energy storage industry, has been named president of Corre Energy US Development Company LLC. Lyons played an instrumental role in developing and commercializing merchant-based energy storage projects to perform frequency regulation ancillary services in the United States, Canada, and globally.
Lyons commented: “The success of Corre Energy B.V. in Europe and new once-in-a-generation government incentives for long duration energy storage projects in both the US and Canada make this the perfect time to build our North American project portfolio.” Lyons added: “Investment Tax Credits of 30 to 40 percent of total project costs and Production Tax Credits for the use of hydrogen will have a beneficial impact on project economics and can make our projects carbon free, enabling us to play a key role in the decarbonization of North American power generation.”
1 R. Baxter, et. al., “2022 Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost and Performance Assessment,” US Department of Energy, Technical Report Publication No. PNNL 33283, August 2022.
About Corre Energy
Corre Energy B.V. is headquartered in the Netherlands and listed on the Euronext Growth Exchange in Dublin (CORRE). Corre Energy designs, develops, constructs, and operates utility-scale Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) projects in Europe and is developing a project pipeline in North America. Through our project development activities, Corre Energy is working to accelerate the global transition to net zero, while enhancing the security and flexibility of large-scale energy systems.
In North America, project development is done by Corre Energy US Development Company LLC, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
For further information please contact:
European operations:
North American operations:
Chet Lyons, President
Corre Energy US Development Company LLC
Email: [email protected]
M: 978-930-0760
