Power and automation group ABB will install its PowerStore grid stabilisation generators on Kodiak Island in Alaska.

The generators will allow the integration of more renewable energy from an expanded wind farm to its microgrid.

According to ABB, the integration will address challenges that will arise while a crane upgrade takes place in order to boost port operations in Kodiak.

"The electric cooperative operates a microgrid that produces all of its 28MW of electricity capacity from hydro and wind power."

This project is being carried out on behalf of Kodiak Electric Association (KEA), which is an electric cooperative owned by residents of the island.

Located off Alaska’s south coast, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the US.

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ABB will install two 1MW PowerStore grid stabilisation generators, which are based on a fast-acting, spinning flywheel.

These generators, which come with inverters that can store energy for short-term, can absorb and inject both real and reactive power onto the microgrid.

In less than five milliseconds, PowerStore can shift from a full-power charge to a full-power discharge.

In addition to offering voltage and frequency support for the new crane, the PowerStore units can boost the life of the two 1.5MW battery systems and help manage the intermittencies from the island’s 9MW wind farm.

ABB’s Power Systems business head Claudio Facchin said: "Remote locations like islands may be rich in renewable energy sources, but the intermittent nature makes their integration into the power grid a challenge.

"ABB’s innovative microgrid solution, as in this case, includes grid stabilisation technology that enables high penetration of renewable power generation and distributed control systems that provide intelligent power management and efficient hybrid power plant operation."

PowerStore is part of the two-core technologies: one is the Microgrid Plus, which enables the penetration of renewable energies up to 100% and helps the integration into a microgrid; and the second technology is the MGC600 decentralised microgrid control system, which comprises control modules distributed across the microgrid area.

So far, ABB has designed and delivered solutions for more than 80 microgrids worldwide.