Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES) has received a contract from Chicago utility Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) for two 19.8MW energy storage systems.
The battery storage sytems will be connected to the local ComEd electric grid to provide real-time frequency regulation service to the PJM ancillary services market. Each unit will store 7.8MWh.
One unit will be deployed at the Elwood Energy Storage Centre in West Chicago and the second will be located at the Jake Energy Storage Centre, in Joliet, southwest of Chicago. BYD America will supply lithium iron phosphate modules.
“These projects will increase the reliability and quality of ComEd’s grid in these communities which, in turn, may help attract new business that demands a high-quality & reliable electricity supply,” said Victor Babbitt, RES Americas’ vice president of energy storage.
According to RES, the systems will also enable PJM to offer lower electricity costs to consumers.
Construction of the storge systems is set to begin this winter and will be completed by August 2015. The projects are expected to operate for at least ten years.
IHS Energy forecasts that North America will be world-leading in grid-connected battery storage with nearly 3.3GWh of cumulative installations by 2020.