US power utility AES’ Laurel Mountain facility has surpassed the 400 GWh mark of regulation service to the PJM Interconnection.
Laurel Mountain, a plant comprised of 98 MW of wind generation and 64 MW of integrated battery-based energy storage resource, has entered its second year of continuous service supplying energy to PJM since October 2011.
The energy storage facility provides fast response regulation, a critical reliability service typically supplied by power generators, but at higher levels of performance. Since the project began the system has achieved a service factor better than 98%, claims AES.
The unit’s ability to regulate up and down, by charging and discharging stored energy, enables an operating range of 64 MW of flexible capacity with no minimum generating level. To achieve a similar flexible operating capability, a thermal power generator would need to be at least 80 MW in size.
