Following extensive testing throughout 2001, Ohio-based energy company American Electric Power (AEP), Columbus, Ohio, has become the first facility to install a power quality/peak shaving batter system that uses sodium sulfur battery technology. The development of the system brought together several electrical industry vendors, including ABB Power Electronics, NGK Insulators, Tokyo Electric Power, and EPRI.
The battery energy storage system protects industrial users’ critical loads from voltage sags, outages, and voltage swells by charging combined battery modules at off-peak hours. The batteries are rated at 100kW and supply as much as 500kW for power stabilization.
The system also allows industrial users to program the level of power to be provided to the load in order to reduce the load demand from the utility grid. Since peak power usage is used in determining the electric bill, battery storage systems deliver energy to reduce the electric bill during peak hours when the per-kW of electricity is highest.
AEP will demonstrate the system for two years at its Gahanna, Ohio office park.