DTE begins work on an 880 MWh BESS project at a coal-fired power plant in Michigan

On Monday (June 10), DTE Energy began work on a new 220 MW (880 MWh) 4-hour BESS project.

According to the Michigan Public Utilities Institute (MPSC), the utility received regulatory approval from the Michigan Public Utilities Commission (MPSC) for the Trenton BESS project in March after final demolition of the stacks. Energy storage.news. The MPSC said at the time that the expected cost of the project would be approximately $460 million.

Commenting on the start of construction, state Governor Gretchen Whitmer said DTE “made it happen with the support of the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).”

According to the company, the required Capex investments were offset by $140 million in incentives, which the company was able to take advantage of through 2022 IRA tax breaks and reserves for infrastructure spending.

The battery storage system will be charged with cheap energy during off-peak hours when renewable energy production is abundant, allowing DTE to manage peak loads and accommodate more wind and solar power on its grid.

“The Future Is Bright”

The Whitmer administration also played a role in supporting Michigan’s energy storage sector as part of the Governor’s Clean Energy Future Plan, adopted in November 2023.

In addition to the goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2040 and carbon neutrality by 2050, this will make Michigan the first state in the U.S. Midwest to commit to a net zero energy goal.

The package of five bills also introduced a target for energy storage procurement of 2.5 GW for 2030. Michigan became the 10th state in the world.^vol U.S. state with a storage policy goal or goal, and prompted then-CEO of Key Capture Energy (KCE) Jeff Bishop to comment that it set a pioneering pace for the Midwest region that others were likely to follow.

Regional transmission operator (RTO) MISO has included electricity storage in its 2022 market portfolio with policies that favor 4-hour projects like DTE Energy’s Trenton facility.

“Thanks to projects like today’s strong federal leadership and the Michigan Legislature’s clean energy and jobs package that I signed into law last year, our future is bright,” Gretchen Whitmer said this week.

DTE Energy says the new BESS facility will help the utility incorporate more renewable energy into its portfolio, in line with state goals and the company’s own 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which it calls “CleanVision.”

This includes adding 15,400 MW of new renewable energy and 1,810 MW of energy storage to its portfolio by 2042, in addition to 1,120 MW of existing storage at Ludington’s pumped storage (PHES) facility and 3,000 MW of wind and solar capacity already existing or committed to achieving before the publication of the 2022 Inland Reform Program. This would increase the total renewable energy portfolio to 18,400 MW and energy storage to 2,930 MW by 2042.

The utility also said in its plan that it would increase grid flexibility to integrate renewable power with new and emerging medium- and long-term energy storage (LDES) technologies.