The Paris Solar-Battery Park in Kenosha County, is now providing power to the grid:
It’s comprised of around 12,000 lithium-ion batteries collectively capable of powering more than 130,000 homes for up to four hours, according to We Energies. On sunny days, when the solar panels are active, the batteries store excess power and release it at night or early in the morning.
The batteries costing $223 million can hold their charge for weeks, if needed, but We Energies says it plans to discharge them multiple times a week depending on the circumstances.
The batteries are stored in 150 containers. Each battery is approximately 33-by-11 inches and has a life expectancy of around 20 years.
We Energies says it has numerous other battery projects proposed or under construction. It is also testing other options that would provide longer duration energy storage.
The solar park will provide both immediate and long-term savings to We Energies customers …
The project was developed by U.S.-based Invenergy, a global developer, owner and operator of sustainable energy solutions.
Something doesn’t add up.
12,000 batteries that are 11" x 33" power 130,000 homes.
Unclear why they don’t give the 3rd dimension for the batteries except that it is a smaller number. And each of these batteries powers over 10 homes each for 4 hours?
These PR releases always see to leave out enough info so you can’t tell if it is impressive or not
I caught the Energy Switch program on battery storage for the grid this week.
They say falling battery costs from lower lithium cost and more automated battery manufacture makes them attractive for grid storage. Up to four hours.
We have a bit of a paradox in that falling lithium prices makes batteries more competitive. Lithium is 40% of their cost. But falling lithium prices have caused investors to stop some lithium projects. I suppose we need to see where the equilibrium point lies. Can both grid companies and lithium companies make money with the new technology?
The batteries are in boxes about the size of shipping containers.
150 Containers with 80 batteries per container. Containers are about 6 feet wide, 20 feet long, and 8 feet high. This battery storage system was provided by Invenergy.