Energy storage solutions provider Convergent Energy + Power has completed a solar-plus-storage plant in Upstate New York that was built as a ‘non-wires alternative’ to more expensive network upgrades.
The New York town of Cicero is served by the Pine Grove substation in utility National Grid’s service territory. It has experienced congestion and electrical stress in recent years and more is expected as both demand for electricity and the growth of renewable energy resources continue.
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Rather than building out the local transmission and distribution (T&D) network with power lines or new substations to accommodate or enable that, National Grid launched a competitive tender process in 2018, open to proposals for various kinds of distributed energy resources (DER) solutions.
The specified need was for 10MW of load relief up to 2031, with a maximum need for up to 49MWh per day, with summer peak load forecasted to exceed 100% of the Pine Grove substation’s emergency rating during this decade.
Developer Convergent Energy + Power’s winning proposal combines 15MWdc of solar PV with a 10MW/40MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). Convergent designed and built the project and will manage its operation.
The solar-plus-storage plant will increase the substation’s capacity cost-effectively, while increasing the amount of renewable energy used in the area.
Read the full story on PV Tech’s sister site Energy-Storage.news.