Edison, GE unveil new battery systems at California gas plants - battery storage systems
(Reuters) -
On Monday, a major California utility company and General Electric releasedof-its-
A battery storage system that will enable the immediate power output of gas peak plants to meet the changing power needs of the country while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This system is installed this month in two separate Edison "peaker" plants in Southern California, which will increase the flexibility of utilities, as the large amount of renewable wind energy and solar energy required by the state authorization makes energy generation cleaner, but unpredictable.
Peaker plants is a small power plant designed to quickly access the internet when power demand is high, such as in hot summer.
But they are also one of the most efficient resources available to utilities.
The 10 MW battery contains a Samsung SDI , able to provide power immediately without the need for the plant to burn fuel in "standby" mode.
Before integrating the battery, it will take about 10 minutes for the 50 MW plant to upgrade to the required capacity.
Ron Nichols, president of Southern California Edison, told Norwalk's event to unveil hybrid gas turbines that California said the new system would cut start-ups by half and reduce total operating time by 60%.
As solar power turns off at the end of the day, these systems will work particularly well, and demand starts to rise just as utility customers get home from work and start running air conditioners or turning on appliances.
California has asked its utilities to get half of their electricity needs out of renewable energy by 2030.
At the same time, the state requires the procurement of energy storage systems to help integrate these renewable sources.
Southern California Edison has launched several energy storage projects online, including a large Tesla battery launched earlier this year.
The GE system is installed on peakers at Norwalk and kakamenga ranch.
Utilities are considering adding these systems to three other peaker factories in their territory, Nichols said.
(The groom of Nicola reports;