Wärtsilä to deliver 70MW energy storage system in California

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä is set to finalise the delivery order of a 70MW energy storage and energy management system in California.

The grid-scale energy storage project in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) energy market is for an undisclosed customer.

The project is expected to be concluded in mid-2020.

The new energy system will be integrated with Wärtsilä’s GEMS platform to achieve increased system efficiencies.

Wärtsilä Energy Business energy storage and optimisation business development director Risto Paldanius said: “This sizable 70MW project demonstrates the growing value being placed on energy storage. There are no government programmes or regulations in place that incentivise this project.

“Energy storage system safety is the most important design feature in our projects. For this customer, safety starts with a lithium iron phosphate battery option, which has several fundamental safety features such as a lower thermal runaway temperature and very low-temperature rise rate.

“Temperature, smoke and fire detection, as well as suppression systems, are all designed for early detection and prevention of any safety-related incidents.”

Wärtsilä claims that its GEMS technology enhances battery performance and endurance, resulting in revenue and ROI growth.

The technology company has over 20 energy storage projects operating in North America. In Texas, it delivered two grid-scale 9.9MW energy storage systems projects.

In January this year, Wartsila secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from an undisclosed company in South East Asia to build a new 100MW / 100MWh energy storage project.