The agreement also calls for Saft to provide two Intensium® Max 20E lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery containers.
The Regina project is the first wind power application for Saft in North America. The grid-connected BESS will help optimize renewable wind power performance by increasing reliability and decreasing volatility by as much as 70 percent over the 15-year lifespan of the system.
Each Li-ion BESS includes a state-of-the-art, 400 kW power conditioning system for use in conjunction with an 800 kW utility scale wind turbine.
“This project builds on Saft’s earlier successes integrating energy storage batteries with wind generation and will demonstrate the benefits of lithium-ion energy storage in enhancing the value of wind energy,” said Jim McDowall, Business Development Manager at Saft’s Energy Storage Systems Business.
The system is designed to harness intermittent wind power and provide a more continuous and predictable output for both on-grid and off-grid applications.
The High Wind and Storage Project will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce electrical production costs, provide more renewable power to the grid and potentially lower electrical rates since the battery can be charged during off-peak periods and dispatched during periods of peak usage.
"This is an extremely important project that will increase the amount of renewable generation we can deploy on the grid,” said Cowessess Chief Grady Lerat. “It’s critical to have Saft providing state-of-the-art technology to make the High Wind and Storage Project successful.”
Saft has demonstrated that this base system can perform wind smoothing and achieve a maximum ramp rate of ten percent per minute of the rated power output of the 800 kW wind turbine while also providing up to 400 kWh of peak shaving capability. The flexibility and scalability of Saft’s solution also allows the energy content to be increased in 124 kWh increments up to 992 kWh if additional peak shaving capability is desired.
CFN is running the project in collaboration with the Saskatchewan Research Council. The project has received funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Energy Fund, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s ecoEnergy Fund and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment’s Go Green Fund.
The installation is scheduled to begin operation in early 2013.
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