Convergent Energy and Power (Convergent), a provider of energy storage solutions in North America, has announced that its 1.75 MW / 8.4 MWh BESS in Little Orleans, Maryland provided backup power to nearly 400 Potomac Edison customers during a winter storm event.
The BESS was built to support Potomac Edison customers served by a line in a rural part of Allegany and Washington counties. On February 16, during a period of high winds, the system provided 11 hours of backup power to reduce the duration of an outage until utility crews were repairing and restoring service.
The system was developed in response to Maryland’s Energy Storage Pilot Program, which was established in 2019 to examine new technologies expected to have a transformative impact on electric distribution systems.
Convergent’s system with Potomac Edison is known as a non-wires alternative, or NWA, which removes or defers the need to construct or upgrade components of a distribution and/or transmission system. Energy storage (typically battery storage) is a type of NWA offering utilities a way to increase capacity on the electric distribution system by charging the batteries when electricity demand is low and discharging when demand is higher.
“There was a critical, unplanned need and our system was able to provide power when the broader grid was unavailable,” said Don Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer of Convergent. “This is a textbook application of Convergent’s value proposition and speaks to the pressing need for more energy storage in communities that are vulnerable to power outages.”
