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East Penn & Ecoult Launch PJM Regulation Services Project with DOE Support
June 18, 2012
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East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc. and its subsidiary Ecoult recently announced the launch of the newest project in the U.S. Department of Energy's Smart Grid Storage Demonstration Program. The PJM Regulation Services project in Lyon Station, PA, is powered by the Deka UltraBattery technology and is designed to provide 3 MW of continuous frequency regulation services to the grid of PJM Interconnection. The new system will also be used for peak demand management services to the local utility, Met-Ed (a FirstEnergy Company).
The Deka UltraBattery, invented by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), is designed to meet the sudden frequency regulation and ramp rate control requirements of the modern electricity grid. Unlike gas turbines or coal generation plants, which may have a ramp response of between five and ten minutes, the UltraBattery technology is engineered to release or absorb power within seconds with highest accuracy of performance without creating CO2 emissions.
The energy storage system is the second one to be launched out of 16 energy storage projects selected by the US Department of Energy under its Smart Grid Storage Demonstration Program. The U.S. Department of Energy supported the project with US$2.2 million of funding under its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. "We are extremely pleased with the successful completion of this significant project," said Dr. Imre Gyuk, DOE's energy storage program manager. "We are confident that continued performance monitoring will demonstrate the value of storage systems for the grid."
East Penn and Ecoult, along with Public Service Co. of New Mexico, are also responsible for the successful launch of the first project that integrates a solar plant with UltraBattery and advanced lead-acid battery technology located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The PJM demonstration project has been implemented in both a building and a containerized format to demonstrate the modularity and mobility of the storage solutions. It connects to the grid from inside the East Penn Manufacturing site in Lyon Station, Pennsylvania.
Ecoult engineered and implemented the energy storage system, and developed the platform for the UltraBattery Energy Resource (UBer) that controls both the batteries and the power conversion system.
"This project was achieved with the collaboration of many key partners -- Dynapower provided a PowerSkid PCS for power conversion and grid integration, Sea Box, Inc.'s contract services for assembly of containerized components, Peterson Panel's power panels, KTR Associates' interconnection design, and Secure Power Solutions' power protection consulting services. We thank our partner US manufacturers for their dedication in bringing this project online and the U.S. Department of Energy for financially supporting this project," said John Wood, CEO of Ecoult.
"As well as contributing to grid stability via regulation services, UltraBattery technology is also being implemented at wind and solar generation sites to control ramp rate of renewable output directly, facilitating the integration of renewable energy into the grid. Large-scale integration of intermittent wind and solar generation into base-load distribution moves us towards a clean, renewable energy future with distributed supply security. We believe the Deka UltraBattery will make a major impact towards enabling that outcome," said Mr. Wood.
The Deka UltraBattery is a new class of advanced lead-acid technology that is designed to operate efficiently in continuous Partial State of Charge (PSOC) use. It combines the advantages of advanced lead-acid technology with the advantages of an asymmetric capacitor, enabling an optimal balance of an energy storing lead-acid battery with the quick charge acceptance, power discharge, and longevity of a capacitor -- ideal for applications involving the continuous management of energy intermittencies and shifting of energy. Extensive testing by Sandia National Laboratories has verified the enhanced cycle life and reliability of these batteries.
Source: Ecoult
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