Case Study
Evaluating Energy Storage Technologies for a Provincial Utility
Client locations:
This project involved an evaluation of energy storage technologies for a Canadian provincial utility, whose present-day system is served mainly from hydroelectric generation resources.
Requirements:
Our client was looking to gain a better understanding of the energy storage technologies that are available to support their power system. Their goal was to identify and evaluate energy storage technologies that would help the system meet its future long-term energy demand by increasing capacity during times of power shortage, and that would support the integration of renewables (intermittent energy sources).
TGS was tasked to perform a review of the available energy storage technologies available for the utility’s power/energy requirements including power management, grid support and load shifting, and power quality.
The project was led by Rob Kolt, who was formerly an employee of Manitoba Hydro for more than 37 years. During his career at Manitoba Hydro, Rob was the head of the Power Quality section for 13 years. He was responsible for planning, organizing, monitoring and administration of Manitoba Hydro’s customer-focused power quality initiatives and the integration of various non-linear technologies to the utility distribution grid. During this time, Rob and his team investigated different types of distribution-level and grid-level energy storage technologies with the aim of improving power quality using the most cost-effective solutions.
Rob applied this experience to perform an in-depth literature review of the latest storage technologies on the market. One of TGS’ core strengths is our research and development experts, who are always investigating the latest technologies related to power systems.
Various electrical energy storage systems were reviewed including Mechanical, Electrochemical, and Electric Field options. The selection of the most applicable technology(s) depends on the particular application which is based on the rated power, rated energy, and discharge duration demands of the electrical grid. The selected technology must also address any power quality requirements such as frequency regulation with a front end inverter and storage that can quickly respond to these variations. The promising technologies should also be mature and proven with minimal risks and be a cost-effective solution to offset the diesel generation of their grid.
Based on the above considerations, it was ultimately concluded that the best storage technology for our client’s system were the battery systems, with the most cost-effective at the time being the lead acid BESS, followed by the lithium ion BESS.
TGS has a strong history of applying strategic thinking to projects in the energy sector, leading to innovations that have shaped the way various technologies have formed.
TGS is always keen to undertake projects involving the latest advancements in power systems-related technologies. Energy storage technologies are just one of those topics. We have the right kind of experts who are well-suited to perform this type of work, and to determine how these new technologies can be applied in the real world, to real power systems.