FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Utility-scale battery system goes into service at Campbell
Industrial Park
Two-year demo to determine how storage can smooth journey to 100%
renewables
HONOLULU, Sept. 23, 2016 – Hawaiian Electric Company has placed into service its first
utility-scale Battery Energy Storage System or BESS, on O‘ahu -- a one-megawatt battery
located at the Campbell Industrial Park generating station. The BESS is a joint demonstration
project by the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawai‘i and Hawaiian Electric,
with funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
The demonstration project will continue for two years, with a possible extension, to determine
the battery’s safety, operating characteristics, and its effectiveness in helping to integrate more
renewable energy on a circuit that already has a high level of solar.
“To achieve our 100 percent renewable energy goal, we need to be able to smooth power
flowing to the grid from variable renewable generation like wind and solar as well as shift
electricity generated when the sun is shining to when people use the most electricity in the
evening,” said Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric vice president for corporate planning and
business development. “We are working on these capabilities both with larger, utility-scale
systems like the BESS units and with ‘behind-the-meter’ batteries at business and residential
customer sites, all working in unison to make clean power work.”
The centerpiece of the BESS project is an Altairnano one megawatt/250 kilowatt-hour BESS
which is housed in a large shipping container. The BESS is comprised of batteries that store the
250-kWh of energy and a corresponding inverter that changes DC to AC electricity so the
battery can export up to one megawatt of power to the grid. The quick-responding battery can
go from zero to full power output in a fraction of a second and provide 250 kilowatts of power for
one hour or one megawatt for 15 minutes.
Also being tested are control algorithms that may be used in even larger batteries for power
smoothing, voltage regulation and frequency response -- all key factors in maintaining reliable
service for customers with steady, quality power.
Other company battery storage projects in service
Working with Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, the Hawaiian Electric Companies have a similar
BESS project in operation on Hawai‘i Island focused on wind smoothing and frequency
-more-
O‘ahu’s first utility-scale battery
system now in service
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Sept. 23, 2016
regulation. Another has been installed at Maui Electric Company’s Pala‘au Power Plant on
Moloka'i and is being tested to provide backup and stability for the island’s electric grid while
providing an opportunity for HNEI to test its use.
“Battery storage systems can provide many different services to both customers and the utility,
however, the systems need to be told what to do and how to do it to provide the most value
while maximizing the life span of the system,” said Richard Rocheleau, director of the Hawaii
Natural Energy Institute. “These projects will test different control strategies on different islands
for different power system issues and provide information to Hawai‘i and the industry on the
tradeoffs between performance and longevity. This will help to get the most out of larger
systems that are being planned to help meet Hawai‘i’s renewable energy goals.”
The BESS projects are among half a dozen energy storage demonstrations and pilot projects
underway across the Hawaiian Electric Companies service territories.
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