Black & Veatch provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for a battery energy storage and solar project that will provide reliable and sustainable electricity to residents in the Utah town of Panguitch. The project is composed of a 650kWac monocrystalline photovoltaic (PV) plant utilizing a horizontal single-axis tracking system. The solar PV project utilizes 150 kW SMA string Inverters, which are tied to an owner-supplied 1 MVA step-up transformer.
The battery energy storage system, or BESS, helps integrate renewable energy into the grid by storing and delivering power even when the sun isn’t shining. The energy storage system is designed to react to the fluctuations in demand for power throughout the day, which enables PacifiCorp to improve the safety, quality, reliability and resiliency of service without upgrading traditional grid poles-and-wires infrastructure.
Reducing Intermittency of Renewables
Panguitch, Utah benefits from more than 250 days of sunshine annually. The 650-kilowatt array of solar panels, mounted atop a ground mounted tracking system, will capture sunshine and route it to a 1 MW, 5 MW hour battery energy storage system (BESS).
"Projects like the one in Panguitch are chipping away at old notions of the intermittency of renewable energy. As the capacity of batteries rise and the costs of solar and battery equipment fall, we expect more utilities to join PacifiCorp in exploring these innovative solutions for their customers.”
Mario Azar, President | Black & Veatch Power
Getting Technical
The BESS consists of two packaged containers housing the Samsung SDI Lithium Ion Batteries. The containers house racks of batteries, with each rack holding 17 batteries. And, because of our unwavering commitment to safety, the battery systems are designed with multi-layered enhancements including use of modules less likely to heat, integrated air conditioning, early gas release detection and fire prevention, detection and suppression systems.
Each container will also have a 500 kW inverter tied to a 1 MVA step-up transformer. Additionally, the site is operated by a control building provided by Black & Veatch. This control building houses the main site controller (controlling both the PV System and the BESS), as well as these key features:
- A microgrid controller capable of monitoring and dispatching all elements of the microgrid based on optimized control routines, including the optimization based on energy demand, solar production, and weather data.
- Integration with the PacifiCorp Utility SCADA system.
- Digital power metering system to monitor power flow within the microgrid and integration of this metering system with the microgrid control system.
