20.08.2018 / Storage4EU Short story
Emergency Black Start Capability: GE’s Energy Storage Battery System
Providing grid stability & smoothing renewable output
Located in California, this 33MW / 20MWh battery system complements the integration of renewable resources and will increase grid flexibility and reliability by providing solar ramping, frequency regulation, power balancing and black start capability for an adjacent gas turbine.
The black start capability was activated on May 10, 2017, when the newly installed energy storage battery system successfully supplied the electricity needed to start a 44-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas turbine without relying on the external transmission network. To stabilize the power plant, the energy storage battery system was then converted, by design, to become an energy load consumer. Although it is implemented in the US, it has similar use-cases in Europe in optimising the operational profile and the related emissions of fossil fired power plants. Frequency regulation and primary control reserve are already services marketed in Europe and could benefit from the presented hybrid approach.
