Owning Versus Contracting Industrial-Scale Energy Storage and Solar-Plus-Storage

Originally posted here.

The Benefits of Energy Storage and Solar-Plus Storage

As energy costs increase and environmental mandates tighten, businesses, particularly those that consume a lot of energy, are increasingly evaluating on-site solar, energy storage, or paired solar and storage to lower costs, hit carbon targets (or get ahead of regulatory changes), and manage power reliability.

As recently as five years ago, energy storage, most often in the form of a battery energy storage system (BESS), was not on the radar of most commercial and industrial companies as a way to manage energy costs. Today, however, battery storage, often paired with solar generation (solar-plus-storage), offers companies a proven way to reduce energy costs and reach sustainability goals at the same time.

If your business is considering a battery storage or solar-plus-storage solution to lower your energy bill, you are in good company. Businesses like Shell, Ford, and Pilkington (NSG Group) have done just that with a development partner (spoiler alert: that partner is Convergent Energy and Power).

As you consider procuring solar and/or storage, you may also wonder: Is it better to own the system, procured from a manufacturer, or partner with a developer that owns and maintains the system on your behalf? Which option will allow you to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of an energy storage or solar-plus-storage system?

We’ll explore the pros and cons of both approaches in this blog post.

Owning Versus Contracting Energy Storage and Solar-Plus-Storage

Convergent, a leading developer of energy storage solutions in North America, has been in the energy storage and solar-plus-storage industry since its infancy, more than a decade ago. Throughout that time, we’ve worked closely with businesses to take the hassle out of energy storage by building, owning, and operating systems on their behalf.

Although we have skin in the game, we have found that nearly all commercial and industrial businesses (and a majority of utilities) prefer to partner with a developer rather than own the system outright … yet the decision often comes down to key considerations around:

  1. Capital Availability

  2. Risk Tolerance

  3. Availability of Internal Resources

  4. Knowledge and Expertise

  5. Time

Below, we will break down the factors that go into this decision as objectively as possible to help guide your decision. For businesses, the key consideration often centers on the opportunity cost of having employees focus on non-core business activities like operating and optimizing a storage or solar-plus-storage system. Most businesses want to do what they do best—and outsource something as complex as designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining a battery storage system.

Read the rest of the article written for Convergent here.

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