Wind Energy Institute of Canada awards contract for battery energy storage system

Date
05/10/2013

 PDF

The Wind Energy Institute of Canada (Institute) announced they have entered into a supply agreement with S&C Electric Canada Ltd. (S&C) for the supply of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), for installation at their site in Prince Edward Island. The BESS will be delivered to the Institute in September and is expected to be operational by the fall of 2013. "The Institute is excited about the opportunity to demonstrate this BESS as part of our Wind R&D Park. With the high penetration of wind into PEI's electricity grid we believe there are many benefits to grid tied electricity storage which our project can showcase. We look forward to working with all of the project partners and Maritime Electric Company Ltd., our local utility, to research the technical and economic realities and making our findings known to the industry." stated Scott Harper, the Institute's CEO. The BESS is composed of two primary components, namely, a Power Conversion System (PCS), supplied by S&C via its field-proven PureWave® Storage Management System (SMS), and battery modules supplied by General Electric (GE). The batteries are based on GE's safe and long life sodium nickel chloride Durathon modules and represent the first such project for GE Energy Storage in Canada. The PureWave SMS converts the energy generated by the wind turbines to direct current which charges the batteries and when called upon, will reverse the flow to take the energy from the batteries and convert it into alternating current for use by the utility, Maritime Electric Company Limited for sale to retail customers. The BESS will demonstrate the ability to store excess energy in times of low demand and to supply it for use in times of higher demand. By demonstrating the practical application for energy storage systems, it is anticipated that the acceptance and utilization of such systems will allow the integration of more renewable energy by utilities into the generation mix. "This project will be the first of its kind in Canada, and will increase industry understanding of how energy storage can enhance the value of wind power generation. S&C is very pleased to be selected to provide our utility-grade PureWave SMS," said Jim Sember, vice president-Power Quality Products, S&C Electric Company. "Our turnkey energy storage solutions are backed by our experience from nearly two dozen storage projects involving various battery types. This expertise and service flexibility is critical to ensuring project success." "Batteries potentially overcome the main drawback of wind power: the intermittent and variable nature of generation. As wind power penetration increases, we think all grid operators will need to look at storage to manage the variability. The Institute's trial puts Canada ahead of the game in demonstrating wind and storage integration and we are proud to support them with our Durathon batteries," said Prescott Logan, General Manager at GE Energy Storage. The Wind Energy Institute of Canada S&C Electric

RELATED

 


-->