DTE Energy on Monday said it will issue a request for proposals for 120 MW of new standalone energy storage to support support Michigan’s renewable energy requirements.
“Energy storage facilities are imperative to Michigan’s clean energy transformation and a great complement to DTE’s growing renewable energy generation fleet,” Chuck Conlen, vice president of clean energy and acquisitions, said in a statement.
The company said it will use a competitive bidding process to seek projects that can achieve commercial operation by March 31, 2027. Projects must be located in Michigan and be interconnected to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator or distribution-level transmission, the utility said.
A virtual pre-RFP conference will be held May 23 to assist interested bidders. Bids will be due by Aug. 2, and DTE said it plans to execute contracts by the first quarter of 2025.
The utilty said it plans to have almost 3 GW of storage in its portfolio by 2042, more than doubling what it has online today.
DTE currently owns and operates three energy storage facilities, including the Ludington pumped storage facility and two battery faciliites located at solar facilities. In addition, the 14-MW Slocum battery energy storage system is expected to be operational in January, the utility said, and the Michigan Public Service Commission has approved plans for a 220-MW storage project at the site of the former Trenton Channel coal plant.
DTE’s 2022 integrated resource plan called for 240 MW of battery storage to be added by 2027, 520 MW between 2028 and 2032, and more than 1 GW from 2033 to 2042.
The utility is working to move away from fossil fuels and in July said it would shut down its coal-fired generation by 2032, three years earlier than previously proposed. The plan also calls for adding 3.8 GW of renewable generation by the end of this decade and converting two units at its 1,270-MW coal-fired Belle River power plant to gas-fired peakers in 2025 and 2026.
