What is Community Energy Storage (CES)?

Community energy storage (CES) is one of the recent advanced smart grid technologies that provide distribution grids with lots of benefits in terms of stability, reliability, quality, and control. As it benefits both customers and utilities, this technology has become a crucial element of recent microgrids.

What is community storage & how does it work?

Community storage offers a pathway for tenants to invest in energy systems without the ownership prerequisites. For example, a single storage system could help multiple users manage demand charges or be paired with PV to encourage self-consumption.

What is community energy storage?

Community energy storage refers to an energy storage system located within a community with defined boundaries.

What are the different types of Community Energy Storage (CES)?

Community energy storage main structure. Generally, CES such as any battery ESS has three modes of operation: discharge, standby, and charge. According to the four-quadrant inverter capability, CES discharge can be fully active power, active/reactive (inductive), and active/reactive (capacitive).

Are community energy storage systems a good investment?

As previously mentioned, most community energy storage projects in the United States are distribution sited and utility owned. The community indirectly benefits from cost-effective investments that reduce system costs. There is also the potential for distribution sited storage systems to improve local reliability and resiliency.

Are community storage systems CES?

While some investor-owned utilities advertise their projects as community storage, these systems are more likely to labeled as CES by industry observers and academics if they are owned and operated by a municipal or cooperative utility (Flanegin 2018; Petta and McConnell 2018).