Samsung SDI, an affiliate of Samsung Group, and Xtreme Power, a privately held Austin, TX company, announced February 19 that they have been selected to install a 1MW/1MWh Lithium Ion-based battery energy storage system (BESS) system at the Reese Technology Center in Lubbock, Texas as part of a Smart Grid Demonstration Project (SGDP).
The $27 million demonstration project will be owned and operated by South Plains Electric Cooperative (SPEC) as one of several project technologies to serve the SGDP objectives of wind integration. The Samsung SDI and Xtreme Power BESS will be connected to SPEC’s distribution grid at the Reese Technology Center as part of an ongoing wind technology program managed by GroupNIRE and Texas Tech University. The BESS will focus on combining utility scale energy storage with wind generation. Potential uses for the BESS include mitigating intermittent fluctuations of a number of nearby wind turbines, regulating the distribution bus voltage, serving as spinning reserve, and providing frequency support during the loss of generation.
Samsung SDI calls itself the world leading supplier of lithium ion batteries, producing over a billion cells annually, and with total revenue exceeding US$5 billion. The same battery is being utilized by leading automobile companies in the USA and Europe in their electric vehicles. Together with XACT’s millisecond response time it should enable renewable generation to attain higher levels of penetration on the grid, as well as supply ideal grid support services, such as frequency response, voltage support and ramp rate control.
Xtreme Power and Samsung SDI will focus on key markets seeking to realize ambitious renewable goals and promote a cleaner electric grid.