Latest news with #Hydrostor
National Post
26-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Hydrostor Brings on Former Shell Executive, Glenn Wright, as New Member of Board of Directors
Article content New member of Hydrostor Board of Directors Glenn Wright will bring key experience from Shell, where he led the company's integrated gas and renewables business Article content TORONTO — Hydrostor, a leading global long duration energy storage (LDES) developer and operator, is pleased to announce that Glenn Wright will join its Board of Directors following its annual shareholders meeting in September. Article content 'We're excited to have Glenn join our team at such a critical juncture, as our Silver City and Willow Rock projects are nearing beginning of construction, and our project development pipeline continues to expand and mature,' said Curtis VanWalleghem, Hydrostor Founder and CEO. 'Glenn brings critical power industry knowledge that will help us continue to grow our offerings.' Article content Wright joins Hydrostor's Board of Directors with over 30 years of experience in energy. In his 27 years with Shell he held a number of roles, including President & CEO of Shell New Energies US LLC and Senior Vice President of Shell Renewables & Energy Solutions, where he led the integrated power and gas businesses across North and South America. Article content Wright's portfolio included renewable energy development, energy storage, customer energy solutions, and retail operations. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President of Shell Energy, Americas, and President & CEO of Shell Energy North America. He came to those roles after an eight-year stint as General Manager of Power Trading at the company. Article content 'I am thrilled to join Hydrostor as a non-executive director. Hydrostor is an innovative company with demonstrated technology that fills a critical void in long-duration energy storage,' said Glenn Wright. 'I look forward to contributing to its continued success in advancing sustainable energy solutions.' Article content Wright is currently a Trustee & Investment Committee member at the Georgia Tech Foundation, and an Advisor at the University of Texas at Austin's College of Engineering – all roles he has held since 2022. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at Austin. Article content About Hydrostor Inc. Article content Hydrostor is a leading developer and operator of long duration energy storage systems. Hydrostor leverages a proven technology solution for delivering long duration energy storage (eight hours or more) to power grids around the world. Hydrostor's technology uses compressed air and water to store energy. This patented technology allows grid operators to draw on clean energy, even when there is no sun to fuel solar panels and no wind to generate energy from turbines. Article content Hydrostor has a successful utility scale facility commercially contracted to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) located in Goderich, Ontario, and two advanced projects under development in Kern County, California and New South Wales, Australia. Hydrostor has an extensive pipeline of early-stage projects in North America, Australia, and Europe. Article content Founded in 2010 and with headquarters in Toronto, Canada and offices in Melbourne, Australia, and Denver, USA, Hydrostor is backed by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, CPP Investments, Canada Growth Fund, and other forward-thinking institutional investors, providing financial security to commit to top-tier energy projects. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State extends deadline for staff review of Rosamond energy storage project
Siding with staff over a Canadian energy-storage developer's timing concerns, a committee of the California Energy Commission agreed this week to extend a set of deadlines related to official review of a compressed-air facility proposed in Rosamond. Tuesday's decision is still expected to result in a final decision by the end of this year on Toronto-based Hydrostor Inc.'s 500-megawatt Willow Rock Energy Storage Center. That was a primary concern for the company, which had expressed concern that delays could jeopardize the project's $1.76 billion federal loan guarantee. Hydrostor's senior vice president of commercial affairs, Curt Hildebrand, said in a statement Thursday the company remains fully committed to meeting the milestones outlined in Tuesday's committee order, which he noted reiterated the desire of the commission and its staff to render a final decision before Dec. 31. "We appreciate the committee's engagement throughout this process, and Hydrostor will continue to work closely with the staff of the California Energy Commission in an effort to bring the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center online to help meet California's system reliability requirements," he stated. On April 2, a commission employee filed a motion blaming red tape, largely originating from other government agencies, for complications that have bogged down staff's review. It pointed to a series of issues such as wastewater discharge and preservation of archaeological resources. The company responded in a filing one week later that agency staff had all the information they needed to complete a preliminary staff assessment that was supposed to be done by Wednesday. Under this week's order, that review won't be due until April 30. A deadline for the final staff assessment was pushed back from May 28 to July 16. As part of the delay, which was generally supported by case intervenors California Unions for Reliable Energy and the Center for Biological Diversity, the project's public comment period was restored to 45 days from 30. The project is planned to provide California's power grid more than eight hours of backup electricity when renewable power sources are unavailable. It is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and about 40 full-time positions. The committee's filing Tuesday reminded all parties in the case to abide by the dates and deadlines contained in this week's order.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hydrostor says federal loan guarantee at risk if state relaxes review schedule
The Canadian company behind a compressed-air energy storage facility proposed in Rosamond warned this week that the project's $1.76 billion federal loan guarantee may be at risk if state officials grant a pair of deadline extensions requested by staff of the California Energy Commission. Toronto-based project developer Hydrostor Inc. said agency employees assigned to the project have all the information they need to complete a preliminary staff assessment that is supposed to be done by Wednesday but which could take additional time if the commission allows it. A representative of the company emphasized Wednesday in a filing with the agency that Hydrostor's recent efforts to avoid or minimize potential impacts of the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center are not to be taken as changes in the project's description. "As a matter of good public policy, the review process should not result in applicants being placed in the position of 'expect a delay if you do not consider an avoidance measure or expect a delay if you do,'" wrote Jeffery D. Harris, a lawyer with the Climate Edge Law Group. The 500-megawatt installation would provide California's power grid more than eight hours of backup electricity when renewable power sources are unavailable. It is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and about 40 full-time positions. Last week, a commission employee filed a motion blaming red tape, largely originating from other government agencies, for complications that have bogged down staff's review. It pointed to a series of issues such as wastewater discharge and preservation of archaeological resources. The request came less than three hours after the committee told staff to file the project's preliminary assessment by no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday. Or, if it insists it lacks sufficient information to do so, then staff must identify what's missing, show the chronology of efforts to get the information and explain the impact of not having it. This week's motion by Hydrostor, which is essentially a rebuttal asking the state to deny the staff request, said the stakes are high — not only the project's ability to meet an energy-storage procurement mandate by the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as federal tax credits available to ratepayers, but also the federal loan guarantee offered by the Biden administration in January. Granting the deadline extensions, if the commission agrees to do so, would change the project's review schedule, potentially pushing back evidentiary hearings by a month and a half to mid-August. Expectations are that, regardless, approval could come by the end of this year, which is when Hydrostor proposes to start construction. The company's motion said staff has had all the information it needs for more than 30 days before the deadline request was submitted. It said this holds true for an application for two incidental take permits, a request filed with the state Department of Water Resources' Division of Safety of Dams, a report related to the site's cultural resources and notice of the removal of an evaporation pond and reverse osmosis system. Despite questions about whether the dam safety division has jurisdiction over part of the project, Harris' motion said the commission alone is the lead agency responsible for ensuring the project complies with the California Environmental Quality Act. To address the division's seismic loading and foundation concerns with the project's compensation reservoir, Hydrostar is suggesting there be a post-approval condition of certification akin, Harris wrote, to the building code process. As for the evaporation pond, Harris noted Hydrostor removed it in order to prevent schedule delays. Now, he wrote, most of the water from the operation will be reused immediately on-site or hauled away to a treatment facility.
