Recording of Erin Hazen's talk from December 8, 2021.

ABSTRACT: Over the last 15 years, component cost reduction and technology improvements in both wind and solar power have led to a transformation of the US energy sector. Renewable power has eclipsed coal, and its Levelized Cost of Energy is now competitive with natural gas generation - even without subsidies. But actually phasing out fossil fuel generation requires a cost-competitive solution to the time- and location-based intermittency of wind and solar generation. Battery energy storage is poised to become a central part of that solution in our race to decarbonization.

But for all the promise of, and need for, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), it remains very much an emerging technology. Not because the battery technology is new, but because of the market fundamentals that drive (and in some cases, hinder) BESS deployment. In this session, a leading developer of utility- scale BESS will share the front line industry perspective on how BESS are actually integrated into today’s electric grid, what job(s) they do best, and what’s holding them back from broader, faster deployment. Topics will include grid interconnection, the “revenue stack” created by various use cases, BESS development and community response, safety, and supply chain trends.

With an understanding the market fundamentals that drive BESS industry, proponents of decarbonization will be better equipped to champion effective solutions.

Speaker Bio: Erin Hazen (she/her) is a renewable energy executive with 14 years of experience in the wind, solar, biomass, and energy storage sectors. She has led the acquisition, development, interconnection, and construction of complex utility-scale renewable energy projects, and has comprehensive understanding of energy project permitting, real estate acquisition, generation technologies, energy policy and economics and power marketing.

Working for GlidePath Power Solutions, a leading US developer with an energy storage development pipeline greater than 4 gigawatts, Erin directed the development and acquisition of stand-alone battery energy storage and solar+storage projects in New York and on Guam. She has just joined Greenleaf Power, a California-based IPP as Vice President of Development, where she will build out a new portfolio of biomass-fueled and stand-alone energy storage projects.