Wärtsilä GEMS advanced soft ware platform will optimize the deployment and functionality of the customer’s existing renewable energy power system, and will connect the site to the local energy market. GEMS will increase revenue and ROI by maximizing battery performance and longevity and enabling additional value streams. For example, GEMS will facilitate “energy arbitrage” with the system’s battery storage capabilities. This allows the customer to purchase electricity from the market when prices are low, and sell stored energy back into the market when short-term costs spike.
“This sizable 70 MW project demonstrates the growing value being placed on energy storage; there are no government programs or regulations in place that incentivized this build,” said Risto Paldanius, business development director for Energy Storage & Optimization at Wärtsilä Energy Business.
Other technical considerations include battery chemistry. Wärtsilä is incorporating lithium iron phosphate batteries, enhancing safety measures of the site.
“Energy storage system safety is the most important design feature in our projects. For this customer, safety starts with a lithium iron phosphate battery option, which has several fundamental safety features such as a lower thermal runaway temperature and very low temperature rise rate. Temperature, smoke and fire detection, as well as suppression systems, are all designed for early detection and prevention of any safety related incidents,” explained Paldanius.
This project is the first grid-scale energy storage project for the customer and will be Wärtsilä’s largest energy storage deployment tied to a renewable resource in the western United States. In total, Wärtsilä has deployed more than 70 energy storage systems worldwide.
