Sandia participates in Cordova Energy Storage project

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and energy leaders cut the ribbon to commemorate the new battery energy storage system in Cordova, Alaska. Joining Sen. Murkowski are Imre Gyuk, right, program director for the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability Stationary Energy Storage Program, and Clay Koplin, CEO of Cordova Electric Cooperative. (Photo provided by Dan Borneo)

By Sarah Johnson

Sandia researchers Dan Borneo and Benjamin Schenkman recently took part in a ribbon-cutting celebration to commission a new energy storage system at the Cordova Electric Cooperative (CEC) in Cordova, Alaska.

Through Sandia, the Department of Energy (DOE) provided a $500,000 cost share to help support the design, installation, and commissioning of the energy storage system. Sandia’s Energy Storage program provided system modeling, cost benefit analysis, and technical consulting throughout the project.

“The Cordova Electric Cooperative project is the first time Sandia has been involved in using a battery energy storage system to support a hydro plant operation,” Dan said. “The team will analyze the system to understand its performance in this application.”

The new 1 megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery energy storage system will be used to increase the efficiency of the run-of-the-river hydro plant. The new system will also be used to increase generator efficiency and reduce diesel generator run-time and fuel usage of the existing diesel generators that make up the generating assets of the CEC grid.

The project assesses the effectiveness of energy storage contributions in this primarily peak-shaving and grid-support application. Additionally, the project will measure and assess the impact of energy storage on grid reliability and resiliency. Ideally this project will inform the nation of an additional application for electrical-energy storage.

In addition to the Sandia researchers, participants in the ribbon-cutting ceremony included U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Imre Gyuk, program director for the DOE’s Office of Electricity Energy Storage Program.