Battery power conversion system

Presidio, Texas—one of the oldest U.S. towns, located on the border of Mexico—has a long history of reliability challenges. While the town is served by American Electric Power Texas (AEPTX), the town can also connect directly to Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). However, CFE’s limited availability of power and notice needed to transfer load, leaves many Presidio residents without power when problems occur on the 69 kV line. AEPTX faced North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) violations and penalties, as a result of this poor reliability.

Project
KEMA provided system integration and design services for the installation of the battery power conversion system (BPCS), to ensure power supply continuity to Presidio residents through a variety of events that in the past would leave them without power. The BPCS comprises four 1-MW NaS (sodium sulfur) batteries, each with its own inverter. To assist the integration of the BPCS, KEMA orchestrated all activities related to the installation and commissioning of the system. KEMA worked with multiple vendors (SEL, S&C Electric and NGK) to assist in developing specifications, building SCADA displays, and creating test plans. KEMA also supported testing in the field, and, as a final step, trained system operators to help them integrate the new BPCS into their daily operations. The BPCS has been in basic commercial operation since March 2010. Since this time, KEMA has tested and commissioned several enhancements related to automation.

Objectives
> Installation of the battery power conversion system at the AEPTX Gonzales substation will address the reliability issues and help to prevent power outages to Presidio residents.

Benefits
This storage installation will satisfy a number of application needs including
> Improved power quality and reliability for Presidio residents
> Uninterrupted power to Presidio residents, even if the radial 69-kV line is out of service for hours
> Additional support for CFE customer loads during outages

Key results
Presidio will benefit from one of the industry’s newest technology developments in energy storage. Furthermore, this BPSC exemplifies one of the largest uses of this energy storage technology in the United States.

Client
> American Electric Power Texas

Project coordinator
> KEMA, United States

Project partners
> NGK
> S&C Electric
> SEL (Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories)

Project details
> Duration: Approximately two years; expected completion in December 2010