Dive Brief:
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Younicos has signed an agreement with the Kodiak Electric Association (KEA) in Alaska to upgrade a 3 MW battery energy storage system on the island. Battery duration statistics were not given.
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Installation of the batteries, which will replace a system KEA installed in 2012, is expected to be complete by mid-August.
- The installation will replace the existing lead-acid batteries with lithium-ion batteries and is designed to support increased seasonal levels of wind generation on the island.
Dive Insight:
Kodiak Electric Association in 2007 set of goal of producing 95% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 in order to reduce its reliance on diesel fuel and lower energy costs for customers.
In 2014, the utility met and surpassed that goal, generating 99.7% of its energy from renewables. A total of 14% of the total comes from wind power with the rest coming from KEA’s Terror Lake hydropower plant.
"We realized early on that battery storage is the best solution to help us achieve these goals, and that Younicos is a company with the right technology and expertise, as well as a passion for clean and affordable energy,” Darron Scott, president and CEO of KEA, said in a statement.
Battery energy storage is catching on quickly in island economies, which often endure high power prices because they must import fuel for conventional power plants.
In 2015, the Kauai Island Electricity Cooperative in Hawaii signed a power purchase agreement for the first fully-dispatchable solar-plus-storage system in the nation, and earlier this year signed another, similar PPA for nearly 30% less than the 2015 deal.
