Con Edison, partner select control platform for New York energy storage pilot
US utility Con Edison and infrastructure company GI Energy have selected a software developed by Smarter Grid Solutions for the control of a 1MW/IMWh battery energy storage project.
Con Edison and GI Energy have plans to deploy three more 1MW/1MWh lithium-ion batteries across New York as part of their pilot project.
The two will use Smarter Grid Solutions’ ANM Strata distributed energy resource management system software to operate four energy storage projects to be deployed over the next five years.
The aim of the pilot is to help Con Edison to determine the value of using energy storage to manage constraints while opening up additional market value streams.
The utility will leverage the pilot to understand how energy storage can improve grid resilience.
Storing energy is becoming increasingly important as utilities integrate wind, solar and energy from other intermittent sources. Balancing supply and demand is taking on a new dimension as electric vehicles and smart appliances connect to the grid, creating additional demand, but also providing opportunities to store electricity and generate new revenue streams from flexible, aggregated operation.
DERMS holds the key to unlocking the potential of renewables, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources while giving utilities and distribution network operators the tools they need to control smart grids.
Con Edison will pay a quarterly fee for priority dispatch rights to the batteries during times of high demand, while system owners will receive revenue from buying and selling the batteries’ electricity in the wholesale market and providing other New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) system services.
Brent Marshall, SGS’s CEO, said: “We are simultaneously optimizing the economic opportunity while respecting the physical constraints and operational needs of Con Edison. It’s a complex problem marrying the physical and the financial in this way, but it was essential that we solve this challenge to truly realize the stacked value potential of these energy storage deployments.”
Corina Solis, GIE’s Associate Director of Development, said: “This business model offers a fast opportunity to scale distribution-tied energy storage in Con Edison’s territory and beyond. The goal is to provide our utility partners with increased input into the location and dispatch schedule of our projects, while at the same time removing some of the siting and sizing restrictions that we run into as project developers. The result should be a more cost-effective solution for all parties involved.”
This article was originally posted by Smart Energy International and was republished with permission.
