Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project (Technology Performance Report #1)
April 15, 2015
U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory
This is the first of several Technology Performance Reports (TPR) for the Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project (TSP). The TSP is jointly funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act - ARRA) and Southern California Edison (SCE). The TSP is a demonstration of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) connected directly to the SCE sub-transmission grid. The facility is located approximately 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, in Tehachapi, CA at the corner of Williamson Road and East Tehachapi Boulevard.
The main objective of the TSP is to evaluate the performance of utility scale lithium ion battery technology in improving grid performance and integrating intermittent generation, e.g., wind. The primary object is to use electrical energy storage to manage conventional energy flows in a time dependent function in order to address grid instability and capacity issues that result from the interconnection of highly variable generation resources.
The TSP was developed based on engineering studies and analysis of the transmission assets in the Tehachapi region, also referred to as the Antelope-Bailey area for transmission studies. In general, SCE evaluated the local transmission assets by completing power flow and dynamic stability simulation studies which looked at current conditions and contingency conditions at selected times in the future. Specifically, the objective of the study was to quantify the grid reliability and power quality issues and assess potential improvements on the grid at selected interconnection locations by the deployment of energy storage devices with four-quadrant control of real and reactive power.
