Stem, Inc. Highlights Significant Milestones and New Applications for Athena® Software in Wholesale Energy Markets
October 05 2021 - 08:30AM
Athena now supporting seven value streams for customers in ISO-New England
Advanced reporting and bidding software offerings launched for CAISO, ERCOT, and PJM wholesale energy markets
Stem, Inc. (“Stem” or “the Company”) (NYSE: STEM), a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven energy storage services, announced today two advanced application additions to its Athena® smart energy software, enabling its project developer customers to generate more revenue in wholesale energy markets for both front of meter (FTM) and behind the meter (BTM) storage projects. Included in the enhanced offering is Athena SupervisorTM, which provides real-time visibility into how Athena manages and monetizes energy assets, and Athena BidderTM, Stem’s proprietary market operations engine that automates asset strategies to maximize wholesale market revenues.
Stem Highlights Three Recent Milestones with Athena® in ISO-NE
Important milestones achieved by Stem during three recent customer projects in Independent System Operator New England (ISO-NE) include:
For the first time, Athena Bidder automated both day-ahead and real-time energy market participation in ISO-NE, along with capacity supply and frequency regulation for a project in Haverhill, Mass. Athena uses the most recent forecasts to automatically optimize the battery operations and evaluate what value stream to participate in, while respecting the point of interconnection (POI) limit and incentive tax credit (ITC) constraint at every trading interval.
In addition, Athena Bidder recently began to forecast market prices and solar generation, while continuously delivering market-ready price and quantity bids in the ISO-NE market for a project in Halifax, Mass.
Separately, Stem’s first direct current-coupled system, deployed earlier this year in Leicester, Mass., is expected to begin generating revenue via the state’s ISO-NE, Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART), and Clean Peak Energy Portfolio Standard programs.
Across these projects, Stem is enabling its project developer customers to co-optimize seven value streams: day-ahead markets, real-time energy markets, frequency regulation, capacity market, coincident peak reduction, solar shifting incentives, and solar ITC earnings.
With Stem’s extended project developer support services and Athena’s ability to deliver multiple value streams, Stem has grown rapidly in the ISO-NE market since it expanded market participation activities for FTM storage in 2020. As of mid-2021, Stem’s Athena-controlled systems comprised 52% of Massachusetts and 19% of ISO-NE’s operational continuous storage facilities active in the wholesale energy, ancillary services, and forward capacity markets. Athena continues to deliver an average of up to 30% internal rate of return (IRR) for its users.
Stem Expands Value in FTM Wholesale Energy Markets with Offerings for CAISO, ERCOT and PJM
Stem’s Athena is used by project developers and asset owners to optimize power generation and market participation revenues of both standalone energy storage and hybrid solar plus storage power plants. Athena supports merchant projects capturing nodal pricing swings. Now, the recent updates to Athena Bidder provide enhanced capabilities for customers to meet resource adequacy requirements, optimize wholesale market revenue, and participate in wholesale energy markets such as California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland (PJM). This enhances customers’ IRR by maximizing revenues through optimized bidding strategies, automated program management, and systematized compliance, while enhancing the storage lifecycle value. Additionally, Athena is uniquely capable of providing short-term forecasts for day-ahead and real-time bidding, as well as leveraging long-term market price projections to model FTM systems for financing and bankability.
“As a global leader in AI-driven energy storage, Stem continues to develop and enhance Athena’s smart energy storage capabilities to secure further market value for new and existing customers and diversify our geographic footprint into new markets,” said John Carrington, Chief Executive Officer at Stem. “These enhancements to Athena’s applications for wholesale energy market participation extend the value and benefits offered to our partners. With our unparalleled service, we help them navigate complicated programs and incentives and generate the best return on their investments.”
