Accounting for Utility-Scale Clean Energy Storage
Developments in energy storage technology have recently made possible long-term bulk storage of electricity, holding out promise for substantial load shifting and the enhanced grid flexibility required to see variable resources like solar and wind become the dominant sources of power in a decarbonized economy. While Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) have become the established accounting instruments for electrical energy over the last 20 years, there is still no standardized practice for using EACs to account for stored renewable electricity and even less agreement on how to use EAC’s to account for non-renewable sources of clean electricity, outside of all-generation tracking systems. Lack of clear guidance creates a barrier for an emerging class of large-scale electricity consumers like data centers, electrolytic hydrogen producers, and customers interested in 24/7 matching of clean power to hourly demand, who are looking to align with carbon-accounting standards that recognize clean energy procurement. This CEAP initiative will consider market dynamics and procurement practices in the real-world to explore outstanding issues in tracking and accounting of clean energy stored at utility-scale volumes using new innovations in battery, pumped hydro, compressed air, fly wheel and thermal storage technologies. The initiative will develop recommendations for issuing and retiring EACs, allocating attributes of stored clean electricity from charge to efficiency losses and discharge under varying operating models, best practices for tracking attributes transparently for key stakeholders across multiple transactions, and accurately allocating emissions among multiple owners of the various assets involved.