The Challenge: Improve Grid Reliability via Energy Storage
The Commonwealth’s path to Net Zero by 2050 requires significant electrification of the transportation and building sectors accompanied by large-scale deployment of non-dispatchable renewable generation. Intermittent renewable generation is subject to unpredictable short- to long-term fluctuations that, at significant levels of penetration, can threaten the reliability of the electric grid. Energy storage offers potential solutions to these challenges, but policy-makers and practitioners needed an updated assessment of today's energy storage market and the potential for mid- and long-range storage to contribute to the Commonwealth's emissions reduction targets.
About Charging Forward: Energy Storage in a Net Zero Commonwealth
In Charging Forward: Energy Storage in a Net Zero Commonwealth, MassCEC and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, assisted by Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3), examined the current deployment and use cases of energy storage in the Commonwealth, as well as how mid- and long-duration energy storage could potentially benefit the grid and ratepayers, including through improved grid reliability. The study was informed by significant stakeholder input.
In addition to the Charging Forward Study, Section 80(b) of the 2022 Climate Act directed DOER to submit a report and recommendations to the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives and to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy based on the results of the Study.
Stakeholder Sessions
Stakeholder feedback was critical to completing the Study. Stakeholders were encouraged to share their feedback in a variety of ways.
MassCEC, DOER, and E3 conducted two stakeholder sessions to present interim work products, address technical questions, and collect feedback on the Study. The first session was held on June 7, 2023, and the second was on August 16, 2023. Comments were accepted through September 1, 2023.