Installation of a 4-megawatt battery energy storage system begins in September.
OUC soon will begin field testing on an energy storage system that could lead the way to building a robust network of utility scale batteries that support more sustainable power generation.
Installation of a 4-megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS) is scheduled to begin in early September at OUC Substation 29 in east St. Cloud, followed by commissioning and startup testing in late fall. The $5 million project is expected to be fully operational by December. Substation 29 is connected to transmission lines that support existing and possibly future solar operations.
The battery pilot is part of OUC’s commitment to invest $90 million in energy storage technologies that will support the utility’s goal of reaching net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. OUC also has set interim carbon-reduction goals of 50% by 2030 and 75% by 2040.
Energy storage is an integral component in OUC’s plans to improve the reliability of solar power, a renewable resource that depends on sunny skies to generate electricity. Cloud cover can drastically reduce a solar farm’s energy production.
“What we hope to learn from this pilot program is how battery charging and discharging will work hand in hand with solar arrays,” said Mark Andersen, who as Project Manager with OUC’s Emerging Technologies team is overseeing the BESS deployment and testing. “This project will help us better understand how to incorporate batteries into our overall power infrastructure.”
Andersen said lithium battery energy storage offers a fast and cost-effective response to drop-offs in solar production. Testing is expected to continue for a year or two, with the data it produces used to help guide decisions on future investments in much larger energy storage systems. The current BESS can generate 4MW of power for two hours.
Ameresco Inc., a renewable energy asset operator in Massachusetts, will install the battery system and work on the project until later this year. Oregon-based Powin built the 4MW BESS.
Members of the Emerging Technologies team also are conducting small-scale tests on flywheel energy storage, Vanadium Redox Flow batteries and hydrogen energy storage at OUC’s Gardenia Innovation & Operations Center.
