ZGlobal Extends Contract for Two Gas-Fired Peaker Sites

ZGlobal has extended a contract to provide operation and maintenance services at two gas-fired Peaker sites, Center Substation in Norwalk and Grapeland Substation in Rancho Cucamonga, where each site is installed with 10 megawatts of battery energy storage. The units are integrated with the peakers, allowing the turbines to operate in standby mode without using fuel or emitting greenhouse gases, which enables immediate response to changing energy dispatch needs. This battery technology utilizes lithium ion battery modules in a prefabricated enclosure that are connected to industrial grade power inverters and connect to the existing Peaker plant 13.8 kV electrical system. The LM6000 Hybrid Electric Gas Turbine systems installed at the two Southern California Peaker plants integrate a 10-MW/4.3-MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system developed by GE and Wellhead Power Solutions.

Under normal conditions some gas turbines must run at minimum loads to provide spinning reserves to the grid, forcing them to burn gas even when the energy is not really needed. The Hybrid Enhanced Gas Turbine (Hybrid EGT) provides spinning reserves using the battery while also responding quickly to any changes in power demand, which allows the gas turbine to operate in coordination with the battery.

Earlier in 2015, ZGlobal performed economic and revenue calculation analysis for both Wellhead 50-MW Center Peaker in Norwalk and the 50-MW Grapeland Peaker in Rancho Cucamonga.