LG Chem (Seoul, South Korea; www.lgchem.com) has successfully delivered and commissioned the largest battery system installed in North America, a 32 MWh battery energy storage system in Tehachapi, Calif.
On May 2013, Southern California Edison (SCE) selected LG Chem to deliver the turnkey 8 MW/32 MWh energy storage system for the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project (TSP), funded by SCE and the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
LG Chem successfully delivered the turnkey project, the largest battery system in North America, including overall project and construction management, system engineering and design, and battery rack systems. Team members include ABB, Inc. for power conversion equipment and LG-affiliate LG CNS Corp. for construction services.
The objective of TSP is to validate the capabilities of a utility-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage system in providing grid support, facilitating the integration of renewable energy resources, and in providing market services. Over a two-year period, SCE will perform extensive field testing to verify the battery system’s capabilities for transmission, grid, and market applications under thirteen specific operational uses.
LG Chem demonstrated its system engineering capabilities and the modularity and flexibility of its battery solutions by designing, engineering, and installing the utility-scale battery system to fit within a small footprint inside an existing 6,300 square foot facility at SCE’s Monolith Substation in Tehachapi. The large-scale battery system is comprised of a total of 604 battery racks, 10,872 battery modules, and 608,832 individual battery cells – the same lithium ion cells installed in commercially-available vehicles sold by leading automotive OEMs to customers worldwide. The successful installation of the utility-scale energy storage system demonstrates LG Chem’s capabilities for delivering large-scale, turnkey projects.