NEC Energy Solutions will install more than 20MW of energy storage in six projects at municipal power plants in New England in the US.
The power plants are in Madison, in Maine, and Ashburnham, Templeton, Wakefield, Middleton and Taunton, in Massachusetts.
NEC’s most recently contracted project for a 3MW/6 megawatt-hour battery system with the Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant will be one of the largest in New England to date.
Taunton will install the system at its Cleary-Flood generating station and will reduce transmission and capacity costs during peak demand times, providing savings to customers.
The new projects follow the model of the 2MW/3.6MWh battery system at the Sterling Municipal Light Department in Massachusetts, installed two years ago, that has saved ratepayers more than $1m on their utility bills.
NEC’s Sterling storage system also provides resiliency for the community in the event of an outage from severe weather and other causes.
NEC Energy Solutions chief executive Steve Fludder said: “We have more than 750MW of energy storage systems around the world, from Japan and China to Hawaii and California, in Chile and Brazil and across the Atlantic to Germany and the UK.
“It is especially important for us to make an impact right here at home in Massachusetts and the rest of New England.”
Each of the battery storage systems will be strategically dispatched to reduce the municipal power plants heaviest electric loads each month, where peak periods determine their yearly capacity costs and monthly transmission costs.
Three of Massachusetts municipal power plants, including Ashburnham, Templeton and Wakefield, are partnering with Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC).
These plants will use MMWEC’s peak load forecasting system and remote dispatch programme, where the company will predict the best time to dispatch the batteries based on its forecasts of increased electricity demand.
The batteries will then be dispatched from MMWEC’s operations centre in Ludlow.
Several of the projects were made possible through grants from the Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage (ACES) Program, including Wakefield, Ashburnham and Taunton.
Sterling Municipal Light Department general manager Sean Hamilton said: “We were very fortunate to have the team we had that brought this project to life, including NEC Energy Solutions.
“From delivery through commissioning NEC was a great partner, even two years later they worked closely with MMWEC to help set up our dispatch programme.”