Stem Partners on US DOE-Funded Project to Integrate Distributed Resources on Hawaii Grid

Stem, Inc., a leader in intelligent energy storage, today announced it has partnered with the Hawaiian Electric Companies in a federally-funded research program as part of the “Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV” (SHINES) program. The project is supported by a $2.4 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative and a matching $2.4 million from Hawaiian Electric.

The initiative, “Integrating System to Edge-of-Network Architecture and Management (SEAMS) for SHINES Technologies on High Penetration Grids,” aims to streamline grid planning and operations for utilities in regions with high concentrations of distributed generation (DG) resources.

“The distribution grid today is trying to cope with rapid increases in bi-directional flow of distributed generation resources,” said Dora Nakafuji, Director of Hawaiian Electric’s Renewable Energy Planning Division. “Because of limited point-to-point visibility and controls to grid operation centers on distribution grids, a sudden influx or drop off of DG in local pockets can have adverse and costly impacts.”

As part of the three-year project, Stem plans to deploy its intelligent storage systems at local businesses on O’ahu, Maui and Hawai’i Island. With its robust software platform, supported by real-time data and predictive analytics, Stem will work to better integrate energy storage located at customer sites into the Hawaiian Electric Companies’ existing island-wide energy management systems. For the first time, grid operators will be able to schedule and manage customer-sited resources, including energy storage, alongside traditional fossil fuel-fired generation resources from their existing control platforms.

“By providing increased visibility and control of customer-sited resources, Stem is adding a new arrow to utilities’ quivers and turning a challenge into a solution,” said Tad Glauthier, Vice President of Hawaii Operations at Stem. “This project not only supports Hawaii’s goal of 100-percent renewable energy by 2045, but also serves as a replicable model for global energy companies of how today’s distributed resources can truly compete with traditional, fossil fuel-based alternatives.”