Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. has announced the operation of the company's first energy storage system.
RES Americas conceived, developed, and constructed the energy storage system, which it will own and operate. Located in Sunbury, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, the system is comprised of a +/-4MW (8MW total range)/ 2.6MWh lithium battery that will provide a service called "frequency regulation" to PJM, the largest grid operator in North America.
The project utilizes lithium iron phosphate, an inherently safe variant of lithium battery chemistry, and consists of two containers that house batteries weighing approximately 20 tons each, as well as a third container that converts the direct current (DC) output to alternating current (AC) for the grid. The equipment was supplied by BYD America.
The global market for energy storage is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. Navigant Research estimates that worldwide revenue from advanced batteries for utility scale energy storage applications will grow from $164 million in 2014 to more than $2.5 billion in 2023. Frequency regulation represents a small fraction of the numerous services that energy storage can provide to the grid.
RES Americas anticipates delivering the company's second 4MW system in June 2014 in Ontario, Canada for the grid operator IESO. The company is currently marketing additional fully-developed frequency regulation projects in PJM.
