Japanese company Sumitomo is kicking off operations at its Willey Battery energy storage project in Hamilton County, Ohio.
The installation (pictured) will provide “a reliable and stable supply-demand balancing service” for the frequency regulation market operated by independent service operator PJM.
Sumitomo Americas director Nick Hagiwara said: “As a developer of wind and solar power plants which are unavoidably intermittent generation sources, we think it is quite important that we also contribute to the stabilization of power grids through balancing services.
“Understanding that energy storage service is indispensable for further penetration of renewable energy, we will keep trying to expand our footprint in the energy-storage space, not only in frequency-regulation but also in other types of storage services.”
Sumitomo said that with the rise in the percentage of electricity generated from renewable resources with high-output fluctuation, such as wind and solar energy, it is becoming increasingly important to balance and manage the difference between actual and forecasted electricity demand, and stabilize the output of electricity to consumers.
“Sumitomo has identified this need and has piloted projects in Japan creating innovative battery storage systems from reused batteries of electric vehicles (and) aims to explore the effectiveness of battery power storage systems and their ability to stabilize the electricity grid with the growing use of renewable energy,” added the company.
Image: Sumitomo
