Paving the way for cleaner energy future in USA
Client: Austin Energy
Location: Austin, Texas, United States
Sectors: Utilities
The Challenge
Integrate smart energy storage with solar power
The Austin SHINES (Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV) project is a 3-year program that began in 2016, thanks to a $4.3m grant from the U.S. government. The aim of the project is to explore how electricity can be generated, delivered and used in a more efficient way. Austin has set a target of using 65% renewable energy by 2027, but wanted to create a model for other regions to follow to maximize potential renewable energy projects and to showcase the savings that cleaner energy can bring.
Key Facts
The Solution
Combine our expertise and energy storage systems with project partners
Our storage experts collaborated with other project partners to devise the best plan to integrate our 1 MW Batteries technology into the project. This involved our 1 MW Batteries providing storage capacity as part of a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), maintaining grid reliability while allowing energy loads to operate at a lower cost. Our Y.Q software provided the ideal platform to manage this precise balancing act between solar PV and battery storage, seamlessly integrating both resources and maintaining reliable power output.
Aggreko
The Impact
Project highlights how energy costs can be lowered with renewables and enhanced efficiency
The Austin SHINES project explores and analyses integrated renewable energy and energy storage on the grid, with an eye toward potential larger-scale use.
The project can now focus on its main goal, thanks to its reliable, fully integrated battery storage and software service. This means an achievable target of potentially lowering the overall Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) for solar energy and storage.