Alaska-based Homer Electric Association recently completed the construction and initial testing of a 46.5 megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) located at its Soldotna Generation and Substation facility. The BESS is made up of 37 battery units capable of delivering 93 megawatt-hours over a two-hour period and was built to increase grid stability, electric power reliability and system efficiency.

Due to the area’s unique geography, HEA has one 15 kilovolt transmission line that connects the cooperative to the rest of the grid via Anchorage. When the transmission line goes down, the system is essentially isolated, or “islanded.” Being islanded can potentially cost HEA an extra $24,000 per day in natural gas fuel costs. The BESS has the potential to avoid those additional fuel costs, saving the cooperative and its members significant amounts of money.

In this special two-part episode of CFC Solutions Cast, we chat with Homer Electric Association General Manager Brad Janorschke and CFC Vice President of Utility Research and Policy Jan Ahlen. During the first episode, Janorschke and Ahlen discuss how HEA’s distinctive geography creates generation and transmission challenges and how the new battery storage system will benefit the cooperative and its members. In the second episode, they cover how other cooperatives are using battery storage as well as HEA’s experience selecting a vendor and moving forward with building the system.