Greentech Lead America: Satcon Technology, a provider of utility-grade
power conversion solutions for the renewable energy market, along with A123
Systems, Renewable Energy Services (RES), and the Sacramento Municipal Utility
District (SMUD) has been selected by the California Energy Commission (Energy
Commission) to receive a $2 million grant to develop and demonstrate methods to
reduce the effects of renewable power intermittency.
The grant is part of a larger initiative to develop the
core solutions to enable higher penetration of renewable power onto the electric
grid through advanced solar energy harvest, storage and array control
capabilities.
Satcon will lead the project, which is designed to
address grid integration challenges through the development of PV integrated
electric energy storage systems capable of voltage and frequency support, PV
firming, real power dispatch and ramp rate control.
The project team will develop, test and demonstrate the
proposed technology at SMUD’s corporate headquarters in Sacramento, California.
The project leverages Satcon’s expertise in advanced
solar inverter system technologies and experience with large-scale solar plant
grid integration, combined with A123’s advanced lithium ion battery technology,
to address key challenges faced by SMUD.
“One of SMUD’s key challenges is to ensure that the
grid is able to serve loads at all times while accommodating higher levels of
renewable energy integration. Addressing key issues, such as ensuring a stable
power flow into the grid from renewable sources, is critical to the success of
using renewables as a major energy supplier,” said Mark Rawson of SMUD.
The project will demonstrate a highly efficient and cost
effective electric energy storage system specifically designed and optimized
for grid tied PV applications.
The system will be comprised of a 500kW PV array,
Satcon’s 500kW PowerGate Plus utility-ready inverter solution and a 500kWh
advanced lithium ion battery energy storage system from A123.
Satcon to supply 52.5 MW PV inverter solutions for
Southern California solar power plant
Recently, Satcon said it will supply 51 MW of its Equinox
Prism Platform solution, a fully integrated multi-megawatt medium voltage (MV)
building block, along with 1.5 MW of its next generation Equinox inverter
systems for a solar power plant in Southern California.
editor@greentechlead.com