California Center for Sustainable Energy

CCSE prepares state’s largest self-generation incentive

The University of California, San Diego is slated to receive $11 million in incentives from CCSE’s Self-Generation Incentive Program for the installation of an innovative fuel cell energy generation and storage system. This is the largest amount ever awarded by the California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC) for a renewable energy project and is the nation’s first advanced energy storage project to apply for state incentive funds.

The planned 2.8- megawatt fuel cell, funded at $7.65 million, will be paired with an additional 2.8- megawatt advanced energy-storage system, funded at $3.4 million, which will allow UC San Diego to store off-peak power and discharge the energy during peak-demand hours. Integrating clean, renewable generation with advanced energy storage is an important strategy for transforming California's electricity system into a sustainable “smart grid,” according to the CPUC.

“Increasingly the state will be relying on renewable resources, like wind, fuel cells and other technologies that do not necessarily produce energy when it is most valuable," said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey. "Storage solves that problem, transforming what would otherwise be low-value energy into high-value energy that can be used on-site to reduce peak energy demand. UCSD should be commended for taking this important step.”

CCSE administers the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which provides rebates for fuel cell and wind generating systems from 30 kilowatts to 3 megawatts in size, within the SDG&E service territory. The program is funded by SDG&E ratepayers.

“Advanced energy storage lets us take the best advantage of renewable generation resources, and at the same time, it can improve the reliability of the electric system and ensure the level of power quality that a modern society requires,” said Andrew McAllister, CCSE director of programs. “ CCSE and UCSD have been advocates for inclusion of advanced energy storage in incentive programs as an important way to develop this new marketplace. CCSE is pleased to partner with UCSD on this and many other projects.”

The integration of this continuously available renewable resource with energy storage will demonstrate, for the first time, the ability to optimally meet the daily peaks and valleys of customers’ electricity demand loads, according to Byron Washom, UCSD’s director of strategic energy initiatives.

“The fuel cell integrated with energy storage is the centerpiece project for UCSD providing global leadership in smart grid initiatives” said Washom. “It is the world’s largest commercially available system and the first such unit of this size to utilize renewable methane gas as fuel.”

UC San Diego’s fuel cell and storage system is being deployed by BioFuels Energy, LLC of Encinitas, Calif., and is scheduled to be completed in 2010. FuelCell Energy, Inc. of Danbury, Conn., will provide the system. The renewable methane will be collected at the City of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, purified and compressed on-site and delivered to the UCSD campus by BioFuels Energy. The wastewater treatment plant’s methane is currently flared into the atmosphere as waste gas. The entire fuel cell and storage project is expected to cost as much as $16 million.

The UC San Diego fuel cell and storage system will reduce carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 8,200 tons per year. The California Air Resources Board has certified the local pollution emissions of the planned fuel cell system as an “ultra clean” electrical generation technology.

Fuel cells produce electricity by separating the component electrons and protons of a fuel, which will be methane gas at UCSD, and forcing the electrons to travel through a circuit that converts them to electrical power. Methane-powered fuel cells are in operation at landfills and waste water treatment plants across the country, as well as at several breweries. Fuel cells will operate virtually continuously as long as the reactant fuel is replenished.

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