Dive Brief:

Xcel Energy has proposed adding two storage components to solar energy projects: one targeting the Panasonic Enterprise Solutions facility, planned for Denver, and another developed for a residential neighborhood in the city.

The projects will cost more than $14 million, though Xcel will not be footing the total bill, reports the Denver Business Journal.

The system being developed for Panasonic would be capable of operating as a microgrid; details about Xcel's residential project are less specific.

Dive Insight:

Xcel Energy filed proposals on two solar-storage projects last week with regulators in Colorado, according to the Denver Business Journal. At the Panasonic facility, the utility wants to install a 1.3 MW solar array alongside a 2 MWh battery system; in the Stapleton neighborhood residential program, Xcel is proposing up to six battery systems and a potential partnership with a local solar installer.

“Our goal is to use these demonstration projects as a foundation for how to efficiently manage renewable energy on our Colorado system, and to continue to provide our customers with insight into the energy choices they want and value,” said David Eves, president of Xcel subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado.

Xcel's portion of the projects would be $10.7 million, while some $3.6 million would be picked up by other parties on the Panasonic project. The projects could come online from 2016 to 2018.

Xcel recently worked with the Electric Power Research Institute and others on a multi-year test of a utility-scale battery in a real-world setting. The group created an energy-storage project to test integration with solar arrays at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center in Aurora, Colo.