Whether or not your utility has access to available and viable land, our development team manages a range of essential processes—from land sourcing and site control (when applicable) to navigating interconnection and permitting applications. These steps are critical to ensuring the success of each system. By developing and leveraging third-party land, we help utilities like yours bring energy storage from an idea to reality.
In this blog, we explore why third-party land sourcing is often required for battery storage and solar PV systems, and how Convergent has successfully helped utilities overcome land limitations and site development challenges to deliver more reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable energy to communities across North America.
Quick Review: Energy Storage 101 (skip if you know this already!)
Before diving in, what exactly is energy storage?
Energy storage systems allow electricity to be stored—and then discharged—at the most strategic times. Today, Lithium-ion batteries, the same batteries that are used in cell phones and electric vehicles, are the most commonly used type of energy storage. Like the batteries in your cell phone, utility-scale battery energy storage systems can be charged with electricity from the grid, stored, and discharged when there is a deficit in supply or when energy is most expensive.
When battery storage is paired with solar PV (known as solar-plus-storage), batteries can utilize solar energy whether or not the sun is shining.
Solar-plus-storage can extend the value of solar energy by providing reliability to your community’s energy capacity needs. Pairing solar PV with battery storage can also be an essential cost-saving tool by capturing additional solar energy during certain times when electricity rates are low and discharging it during times when electricity rates are high.
Battery storage (with or without solar PV) can help utilities increase capacity and reliability and decrease costs for their customers.
These systems provide a range of benefits, including stabilizing intermittent power from renewables, managing peak demand, and delivering backup power when the grid is constrained. As demand for clean energy initiatives grows, so too does the need for battery storage.
Navigating Land Constraints for Utilities
This momentum highlights the importance of thoughtful land development—a foundational pillar in expanding renewable energy infrastructure.
For utilities with limited land availability, our third-party land sourcing capabilities become necessary to bringing a battery storage system or solar-plus-storage system online. Our land development team is experienced in finding strategic and creative solutions, from securing third-party parcels to negotiating flexible lease agreements.
If you're a utility or municipality eager to embrace energy storage or solar PV, but unsure if you have space for the system, we have the resources and experience to help make it possible. And, third-party land sources is part of our partnership—we do not charge prospective customers for us to identify and evaluate land.
How We Meet the Unique Challenges of Land Development
The permitting process establishes the energy storage project's legality, safety, and environmental sustainability. It also helps mitigate potential risks or negative impacts on the surrounding community.
Once a site is identified, our team offers guidance to customers who are at any stage in the evaluation process—whether customers have already assessed potential sites, have a location in mind, or are just beginning your land search.
Identifying land where energy storage and/or solar PV can be permitted is critical to success. Attempting to permit a project where it is not allowed can entail complex processes such as obtaining an ordinance amendment or a conditional use permit. Therefore, our focus remains on locating areas where zoning regulations align with the system’s objectives.
In addition, securing site control is key for establishing the system’s location and avoiding potential conflicts or disruptions. Following site control, the interconnection process, which links the project to the existing energy grid, is a vital next development step.
Our land development team understands what goes into the interconnection process and can anticipate—and resolve—any challenges that may arise.
How We Evaluate Proposed Land Parcels for Energy Storage and Solar
In cases where land is available (third-party or otherwise), our team focuses on optimizing site selection to maximize our energy storage and/or solar PV systems’ value—while making the process as seamless as possible.
We begin by evaluating each site for climate, biodiversity, and land integrity risks, to help ensure that our systems support our customers and the surrounding ecosystem. This includes analyzing proposed sites for critical habitat—areas of high biodiversity value such as wetlands, marshlands, and threatened ecosystems. We consult maps of Critical Biodiversity Areas and work within local regulatory codes to ensure that our projects do not put local ecosystems or communities at risk.
Additionally, we ensure that our sites will not pose new threats to endangered species, avoiding development on World Heritage Sites and respecting the land rights of Indigenous Nations. Before construction begins, we engage with the local community to gather feedback and establish open lines of communication. By carefully selecting sites and fostering partnerships with landowners, we minimize risk, listen to community concerns, and streamline the development process to support renewable energy success.
Conclusion: How Convergent Partners With Land-Constrained Utilities
We have partnered with utilities in the ISO-New England, California, Colorado, and Ontario that lacked sufficient space for energy storage on utility-controlled property. Convergent’s land development team’s successful approach allowed us to identify several possible third-party owned sites and work with the utility to select locations that optimize the system impact and will result in successful project development.
And it does not end there. Our team works closely with local planning boards, municipal departments and regulatory agencies to navigate the permitting process, and ultimately secure approvals. Our ability to manage the complexities of land sourcing is a key factor in the utility selecting Convergent to fulfill their energy storage needs. It underscores our commitment to delivering innovative, effective solutions to our customers, even when space is limited.
If you’re ready to move forward on your energy storage and/or solar PV system but unsure if you have the right parcel of land or how to assess the land, Convergent can help. We can also help even if you have secured and analyzed your land, by managing the interconnection process and supporting community engagement efforts. We are proud of our commitment to sustainable practices and over a decade of energy storage expertise.
If you’re ready to supercharge your community and the reliability of your electricity grid, please contact us today to learn more.
