San Francisco-based startup Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) has been selected by Walmart to install its advanced energy storage systems at a number of the US retailer’s Southern California stores.
Under the agreement, AMS will design, install and operate these systems, and in doing so will apparently improve efficiency, guarantee energy savings, and provide fast, flexible grid support to local utilities, all at no upfront cost to Walmart.
In the first phase of the project, AMS will install 40 megawatt hours (“MWh”) of advanced energy storage systems at 27 stores in Southern California. These energy storage systems will allow the retail giant to reduce costs by permanently reducing each store’s peak electricity demand while providing dispatchable grid support to Southern California Edison (“SCE”).
“Cost efficiency is the hallmark of the Walmart brand,” said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president, Energy for Walmart. “Adding energy storage capabilities to our clean energy resources reduces the capacity needed from the grid and is part of our commitment to increase reliance on renewable energy.”
Walmart has an ambitious goal to power 50 percent of its operations with renewable energy sources by 2025 and has already installed onsite generation, including solar PV, at 350 stores.
AMS’s Hybrid Electric Building® technology automatically and efficiently optimizes a building’s overall energy usage, controlling energy consumption and lowering costs, while generating revenues from utilities for grid services. Southern California Edison, one of the largest grid operators in the US, will be able to tap into these advanced energy storage systems to reduce demand on the grid as part of SCE’s groundbreaking grid modernization project.
