From:
Liberty Utilities
To:
Alpine County Board of Supervisors
Subject:
Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Markleeville
Project Background: Liberty Utilities 694 customers in Alpine County, experience longer and
more frequent power outages than the average Liberty Utilities California customer. With
many Alpine County customers at an elevation of 5,500 feet or more and dependent upon
electricity for heating, sustained outages pose a substantial problem. Alpine County is
currently supplied with electricity through a radial distribution line that originates at Muller
substation in NV Energy’s service territory, known as the 1296 circuit. When an outage occurs,
there is no alternate feed to Alpine County. Instead of being out of power for only as long as it
takes to isolate the problem and switch the system around it, customers in Alpine County
remain out of power until repairs are completed. The rough topography of the Sierra Nevada
mountain range and winter snow both add to repair difficulty and often extend outage times.
1296 Circuit:
Implementing a Battery Energy Storage Solution (BESS) would improve the quality of service
for Alpine County customers, bringing reliability in-line with other Liberty Utilities CA
customers. The BESS will have the capacity and functionality needed to deliver several
applications that improve power system performance and service to load, at a cost that is
competitive to other traditional systems. After receiving all of the required authorizations and
permits, it would take about 12 months for construction and for commercial operation. Liberty
Utilities would own and operate this project for a minimum of 15 years.
Liberty Utilities did look into alternative solutions such as running a second transmission line to
Markleeville and installing diesel generator sets there.
 The second transmission line project is cost prohibitive and ranges from $8-$16 million
and would take 8-10 years to complete.
 Installing diesel generators in Markleeville was the most economically attractive solution
at a cost of $2.5 million. This traditional fossil fuel technology would face
insurmountable permitting challenges in the region due to its GHG emissions and
negative impact on the environment.
Battery Solution: 2.4 MW, 6 hour discharge, 15 year life, $6-$9 million
The 2.4 MVA, 6-hour system will consist of three 800 kW strings (each string consists of four
containers in series, 200 kW per container) of batteries, each behind a 1 MVA PCS. The system
will have 2.680 MW peak output, with nominal output being 2.4 MW for 6 hour discharge at
the beginning of system life. Estimated system total round trip efficiency is 75%, e.g. 8 hour
charge returns 6 hour discharge over one complete (daily) cycle.
When there are system outages originating in NV Energy and Liberty customers downstream
are out of power, the BESS would automatically turn on and provide back-up power to all the
businesses and residents on the 1296 circuit.
Proposed Battery Project Site at Turtle Rock Park: Liberty Utilities is requesting consent from
Alpine County to move forward with filling out the appropriate permits and paperwork to site
our BESS at Turtle Rock Park. The proposed system requires an area of approximately 94’ x 72’
and will be interconnected to our 3 phase line which is closely located on County property.
The battery containers will sit about 17 feet high and the entire battery site will be fenced in at
a minimum and/or be housed in a building.
Battery Layout at Turtle Rock Park:
Approximate Footprint: 94’ x 72’
Property Line Looking west: Small red circle approximate NW corner of BESS
NE to SE corners of BESS
NW Corner of BESS
Project Timeline:
March 2017
Board Meeting
in Alpine
County
requesting
content to site
Project at
Turtle Park
September
2017
Submit
application for
project
approval to
the PUC
June 2017
Go out to RFP
for battery
vendors
May 2017
Fill out
permits and
applications
and secure
site
August 2017
Select Vendor
October 2018
P.O. to
selected
Vendor
September
2018
Project
Approval
Granted by
PUC
December
2019
14 months
Delivery and
Installation,
Commercial
Operation
Date