Eguana Technologies (TSXV: EGT) this evening had a major announcement in that it has been selected to deploy its virtual powerplant technologies in Hawaii with the state’s Public Utility Commission. The firms Evolve system is to be deployed under the Emergency Demand Response Program being implemented in the region.
The program has been initiated by the state as a result of the pending closing of the AES coal generating station this September. With current projects slated for the region delayed, the commission has procured 50MW of scheduled dispatch services. Effectively, this translates to the need for 10,000 5kW residential energy storage systems that are to be utilized in conjunction with rooftop solar installations.
The program as announced by the Public Utility Commission incentivizes customers as follows:
In essence, the state is to subsidize up to $850 per kW for homeowners that agree to discharge their solar battery for two hours each day into the grid at peak evening periods. For this, a virtual power plant system was required, which is where Eguana comes in.
The program follows a heated debate whereby the Hawaii Public Utility Commission discussed the decommissioning of the AES coal plant in 2022 and the initial replacement plan that was in place. A clip of this can be seen here.
The company has been developing the E-Gear Evolve to meet this need, with the major utility in the state, Hawaiian Electric, having tested the Evolve in numerous environments for all phases of the program.
“E-Gear and Eguana have proven the capability of distributed energy storage systems to resolve a range of concerns on Hawaii’s electricity grid related to aging infrastructure, increased adoption of rooftop solar, and Hawaii’s target of 100% renewables by 2045. The impending supply gap being caused by the retirement of the AES CIP plant, combined with the delays in large scale renewables projects and our experience with Hawaiian Electric, have created this moment for distributed energy storage to demonstrate its speed, flexibility, and reliability as a superior solution to meet the needs of our evolving and expanding electricity grids.””
Chris DeBone, Managing Director of E-Gear LLC
Eguana has reportedly received a $3.6 million first order under the virtual power plant program, however details were not elaborated upon by the company. Further details related to the program are reportedly to be released in the coming weeks, along with additional details on program planning.
Eguana Technologies last traded at $0.355 on the TSX Venture.
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