http://www.metering.com/georgia-utility-unveils-battery-storage-research-project/
Georgia utility unveils battery storage research project
Posted by: Amy Ryan
November 16, 2015
In the US, Georgia-based electric utility Southern Company has unveiled
the largest energy storage research project in its operating system –
set up to test and evaluate a 1MW/2MWh lithium-ion battery storage system.
Southern Company said the project is purposed to evaluate how battery
storage systems can create value for customers.
The technology used in the system is similar to the battery chemistry
used in electric vehicles, said a company statement.
The utility believes that energy storage has the potential to assist
greatly in the integration of renewable energy to reduce prices for
customers, as well as offer the ability to further enable the smart
grid, helping utilities meet their customers' needs.
Southern Company executive vice president and chief operating officer
Kimberly S. Greene said: "As a national leader in innovation, Southern
Company recognises the value for customers of inventing the future of
energy.
"With the new Cedartown battery demonstration, we are taking an
important step forward in the research, development and deployment of
energy storage technologies that create better ways to deliver clean,
safe, reliable and affordable power to the families we serve."
Battery storage enabling smart utilities
The utility is reported to have long viewed the development of
efficient, economic energy storage as a potential “game changer” for
renewable energy.
Greene added: "Renewable resources, such as solar and wind, are
inherently variable and intermittent – generating electricity only when
the sun shines or the wind blows.
"Cost-effective battery storage could provide a viable solution to
better manage and integrate renewables into the power grid."
The battery storage research project is located on the site of a 1-MW
solar photovoltaic (PV) facility owned and operated by WGL Energy – an
energy provider offering natural gas, electricity, green power, carbon
reduction, distributed generation and energy efficiency.
The solar facility forms part of Southern Company’s Georgia Power's
Advanced Solar Initiative (ASI), which through the programme, has
allowed the utility to add a significant amount of solar generation in
Georgia – without pushing up customer’s rates.
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