The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its next generation energy storage system to AEP OnSite Partners to serve the City of Martinsville, Virginia, USA. This first-ever project with the GridSolv Quantum energy storage system demonstrates Wärtsilä’s market-leading innovation capability. Together with a 10-year Wärtsilä Guaranteed asset performance agreement, the system is estimated to provide substantial savings to the city. AEP OnSite Partners, a U.S. based provider of customer centric distributed energy asset solutions, placed the order for the system in August. The Wärtsilä solution is scheduled to be delivered under an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract. The service agreement includes annual maintenance inspections, GEMS monitoring, extended product warranties, capacity, availability, and Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) regional transmission organisation’s Performance score guarantees.

The Wärtsilä GridSolv Quantum solution is a fully integrated modular and compact energy storage system. It is a pre-engineered and validated package with matrix site layout, designed for ease of deployment and sustainable energy optimisation for various project locations and market applications. Designed for flexibility and functionality, it is a complete solution that includes different sub systems – thermal management, safety and enclosure – that work together to deliver maximum safety at the lowest lifecycle cost. A key design feature includes UL9540A limiting 2-hour battery firewall envelope testing that ensures an improved NFPA 855 fire safety compliant site. The solution is compliant with all applicable North American and international standards.

The Wärtsilä solution is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2021. The long-term service agreement will take effect when the plant commences operations. Wärtsilä will recognise the order intake related to the agreement following commissioning.

The City of Martinsville, located in Southern Virginia, has its own distribution utility and maintains their own system which serves approximately 13,000 of its residents and businesses. The project will reduce the city’s transmission and capacity peak values, measured in megawatts (MW), within the Appalachian Power regional transmission operator (RTOE) territory and the PJM regional independent system operator (ISO) system. Along with peak reductions, the system will participate in the PJM fast response frequency regulation market. The system availability, energy capacity, round trip efficiency, and PJM performance will be managed by Wärtsilä and collectively reduces environmental impacts of alternative power generation.

The PJM regulation market is a demanding ancillary services product that provides market-based compensation for resources that can adjust output or consumption in response to an automated dynamic regulation RegD signal. Wärtsilä’s GridSolv Quantum solution, which will be controlled by the company’s smart GEMS energy management software, responds to the signal and will also enable the city’s peak demand to be reduced by an estimated 9 MW.

“This innovative storage solution is precisely what we needed to deliver solid operational and financial benefits for the City of Martinsville. The installation will enable us to help the City offset peak load periods and more effectively manage their overall energy usage and costs as well as their reliance on traditional peak energy resources,” said Joel Jansen, Chief Operating Officer at AEP Onsite Partners.

“We look forward to the first milestone installation of the GridSolv Quantum energy storage system. In combination with our lifecycle solution, the guaranteed asset performance agreement, it represents another outstanding example of Wärtsilä’s commitment to lowering the cost and reducing the environmental impact of power generation. We have the capability to assist power providers to integrate energy storage microgrids and to increase their share of solar and wind energy,” added John Hoeft, Senior Business Development Manager, Wärtsilä Energy.

AEP OnSite Partners, an American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) company, works directly with customers, developers and government officials to deliver energy solutions based upon market knowledge, innovative application of technology and deal-structuring capabilities. AEP OnSite Partners targets opportunities in distributed solar, combined heat and power, energy storage, fuel cells, waste heat recovery, energy efficiency, peaking generation and other energy solutions that create value for our customers.