COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ice Energy (“the Company”), a leader in thermal energy storage and grid-scale solutions for permanent peak load-shifting, today announced several key milestones of its Southern California Virtual Power Plant (“VPP”) Thermal Storage Project.
Ice Energy is pleased to share that it has surpassed five years of successful operations of its 25.6 MWh utility-scale program with Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities serving 15 million customers in California. The program is active at over 100 customer sites and has successfully provided over 45 GWhs of capacity since inception.
Customers have saved up to 20% on utility bills by drawing on power during off-peak hours when electricity rates are less expensive or when demand charges are not applicable. Ice Energy’s Ice Bear™ has also helped reduce strain on the grid through load-shifting across Southern California’s 100 sites in Orange County, thus reducing the critical net peak electricity demand on the grid and enabling the deployment and use of more renewable energy.
“Increasing electricity demand during peak cooling times is straining California’s electrical grid,” said Joe Raasch, Director of Operations at Ice Energy. “By 2050, the IEA predicts that one-third of peak electricity demand will be for air conditioning which has been cited as a contributor to blackout events. At Ice Energy, we are proud to support the efficient, consistent functioning of Southern California’s power grid while supporting the deployment of renewable energy and look forward to continue working together with Southern California Edison on this important program for years to come.”
Critically, thermal storage programs can be deployed without the need for grid interconnection and can be implemented within a matter of weeks. The technology is dispatchable, behind-the-meter and functions as a local resource that can be aggregated into megawatt scale VPPs. Ice Bear™ uses water as a storage medium and is manufactured from all recyclable materials with no rare earth materials. The technology is capable of generating efficiency of over 100% depending on diurnal temperature differences over its independently tested 20-year useful life.
“The Ice Bear is an example of a climate technology that can solve the energy transition needs of today,” added Brice Soucy, Board Member of Ice Energy and Senior Director at Argo Infrastructure Partners. “The successful deployment of our VPP with SCE has been transformational by creating value for both SCE and our customers and we look forward to partnering with utilities across California and beyond to implement similar programs.”
The California Public Utility Commission (“CPUC”) has expressed its support for the deployment of thermal energy storage and critically qualifies the capacity from Ice Bear™ as reduction to Resource Adequacy requirements for utilities. The Ice Bear™ and other thermal storage technologies have qualified for the Standalone Energy Storage Investment Tax Credit under the Inflation Reduction Act, which can reduce capital costs by 40% or more as a result of Ice Bears being made in the US.
“There is a demonstrated need for thermal energy storage and Ice Energy’s proven technology is part of a solution for the acute capacity issues facing electricity grids in California and beyond. We are bullish on the adoption rate because these programs can be delivered to utilities on a performance contract basis without the need for interconnection and no upfront costs, while delivering long-term capacity benefits during their useful life,” said Jason Zibarras, Founding Partner of Argo Infrastructure Partners LP.
About the Ice Bear™
The Ice Bear™ is a patented thermal battery storage system that freezes ice during lower-cost, off-peak hours to provide cooling to air conditioning (AC) units when peak electricity rates and demand charges are highest, reducing peak cooling electricity by 95% for up to 8 hours a day, every day.
Ice Energy’s two Ice Bear products – the Ice Bear™ for commercial and industrial settings, and the Ice Cub™ for small commercial and residential applications – integrate seamlessly with cooling systems and come equipped with a smart-grid controller and bi-directional communications to give real-time visibility and control. Individual units, custom groupings or entire fleets can be dispatched to shift and optimize cooling loads in a virtual power plant configuration.
About Ice Energy
Ice Energy, a portfolio company of Argo Infrastructure Partners LP, is a thermal energy storage company that offers scalable, sustainable and proven solutions that harness the power of ice to improve electric grid reliability and reduce energy costs for commercial, industrial and residential customers. With over 100 million operating hours and low maintenance and service requirements, the Company’s Ice Bear™ and forthcoming Ice Cub™ products are deployable at megawatt scale, reduce the need for carbon-intensive peaking generation, and are cheaper than lithium-ion solutions. By providing immediately deployable, supply-side, behind-the-meter local resource, Ice Energy’s clean energy technology can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate a roundtrip efficiency of over 100%. To learn more, visit www.iceenergy.com.
