Introduction
In 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a $10 million dollar Energy Storage Initiative (“ESI”). As part of ESI, MassCEC and the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) released an Energy Storage Study (“State of Charge”) in September 2016, a comprehensive report to obtain a broad view of energy storage technologies that will inform future policy and programs. In 2017, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced awards worth $20 million dollars to support 26 energy storage demonstration projects across the Commonwealth. The An Act to Advance Clean Energy, passed in July 2018 by the Massachusetts legislature, set a target of 1000 MWh in the Commonwealth by 2025.
With the anticipated energy storage activity in Massachusetts, developing energy storage safety codes, standards, regulations and training (CST) are an industry priority to ensure a robust market and to facilitate smooth deployment of energy storage. Current standards for energy storage include UL 9540, UL 1642, UL1973, UL 1741, IEEE 1547, NFPA 1, NECA 416-16, NFPA 70E, IEEE C2, NFPA 70, UL 9540A, and NFPA 855. A lot of these standards are new—some are in draft form and some have not been promulgated in Massachusetts. In a related measure, New York City has published outdoor li-ion permitting guidelines in 2018 for its energy storage installation.
MassCEC is keen to facilitate the education and awareness of AHJs and relevant fire officials on the topic of energy storage. Consequently, MassCEC is supporting the Boston Fire Department with an energy storage demonstration system for first responder training. This project, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, will serve as an opportunity for a variety of stakeholders, including fire personnel, inspection services personnel, and MassCEC, to learn about these issues in the context of a continuously changing market.
The Project
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is partnering with the City of Boston to install a solar and energy storage system at the BFD training facility on Moon Island. Moon Island serves as a training location for the BFD and the corresponding agencies for 14 other towns and cities. The demonstration system aims to include one commercial and one residential unit, reflective of systems likely to be encountered in the field, built to the best standards available. The installation will also provide resilience for the training facility in case of an electrical outage during extreme weather events.
The first responder training will consist of a combination of NFPA materials and custom lessons for BFD. The installed systems will be incorporated into the first responder training for the BFD, other local fire departments, and local AHJs.
Moon Island has the unique utility location of being in Eversource territory with all connections to the mainland being in National Grid territory. This will require the system to create special procedures for the interconnection process.
Phase 1
MassCEC released an RFP for an engineering design for the project which closed June 23rd, 2018. DNV GL was awarded $88,080 under the RFP. The firm produced a series of deliverables under the grant including a feasibility study, technical specification, one-line diagram, and safety training materials. The package of deliverables is here.