Southern California Edison Company Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project Description
Oct. 15, 2015
U.S. Department of Energy
The Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project, funded by Southern California Edison (SCE) and federal stimulus funding awarded by the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is positioned to demonstrate the effectiveness of lithium-ion battery and smart inverter technologies to improve grid performance and assist in the integration of variable energy resources. The project is based at SCE"s Monolith Substation in Tehachapi, California and includes a 32 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and the associated power conversion system. The project will evaluate the performance of the BESS to improve grid performance and assist in the integration of large-scale variable energy resourced generation. Project performance will be measured with 13 specific operational uses: provide voltage support and grid stabilization; decrease transmission losses; diminish congestion; increase system reliability; defer transmission investment; optimize size of new renewable-related transmission; provide system capacity and resource adequacy; integrate renewable energy (smoothing); shift wind generation output; frequency regulation; spin/non-spin replacement reserves; ramp management; and energy price arbitrage. Most of the operations either shift other generation resources to meet peak load and other electricity system needs with stored electricity, or resolve grid stability and capacity concerns that result from the interconnection of variable energy resources. SCE will also demonstrate the ability of lithium-ion battery storage to provide nearly instantaneous maximum capacity for supply-side ramp rate control to minimize the need for fossil fuel-powered back-up generation.
