NEC Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of NEC Corp., has announced it is supplying the Sterling Municipal Light Department (SMLD) of Sterling, MA with a 2 MW, 3.9 MWh GSS grid energy storage. Once complete in December 2016, it will be the largest battery-based energy storage system installed in New England and the first utility scale project in Massachusetts. It will improve grid resiliency against weather-related power outages, while providing enhanced clean energy usage and cost savings to the town of Sterling. Town, State and NEC ES officials commemorated the project today in an official groundbreaking ceremony.
The groundbreaking ceremony in Sterling, Mass. included town officials, Massachusetts State officials, some from U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, Clean Energy States Alliance, and NEC Energy Solutions representatives.
To reduce Sterling’s carbon footprint, SMLD has been installing large amounts of PV solar and is currently ranked seventh in the nation in installed PV per capita. However, SMLD desired greater resiliency and further modernization of its grid. The energy storage system will work with the overall installed base of PV solar to provide the needed energy resiliency, particularly to critical town departments such as police, dispatch, and fire service. It will also provide transmission capacity charge savings from reducing peak demand, which will deliver energy cost saving benefits to the community. NEC ES is providing its turn-key GSS energy storage solution which includes a single 53-ft container housing 3.9 MWh of lithium ion batteries, a 2 MW power conversion system, and proprietary NEC ES AEROS controls software suite. NEC ES will also provide service and maintenance packages to SMLD for the GSS energy storage installation.
The project was funded in part by a $1.46 million grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), under the leadership of Commissioner Judith Judson, with additional financial and technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (DOE-OE) under the direction of Dr. Imre Gyuk, and Sandia National Laboratories under the leadership of Dan Borneo. Additional technical support was provided by Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) through its Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAP), and by Clean Energy Group’s Resilient Power Project through a generous grant from the Barr Foundation.
“Energy storage technologies, especially when paired with renewable energy, have the potential to be a game changer for Massachusetts, helping lower the cost of energy to ratepayers while reducing emissions.” said Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson. ”DOER’s Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative, through which this project received funding, is a testament to the Baker-Polito Administration’s commitment to embracing innovative clean energy solutions across the Commonwealth.”
NEC Energy Solutions develops and manufactures smart energy storage for electric grid, backup power and lead‐acid replacement applications with system integration expertise focusing on high performance, efficiency, safety and reliability. Products range from massive grid‐scale energy storage systems, successfully operating in commercial revenue service since 2009, to commercial and specialty battery solutions to fit the needs of telecom, datacenter, medical and other industrial applications. For more: www.neces.com.
Filed Under: Energy storage
