Alpine Energy are installing a utility-sized battery on its network to test potential network and market applications, including demand response.
Chief Executive Andrew Tombs says the 36 kWe lithium-ion storage device will participate in Transpower’s demand response market during the next five years. “We put a bid up to Transpower and the system operator and were successful in getting this unit into the market.”
Market services provider Simply Energy will manage any potential commercial and retail applications for the storage, Tombs says. The firm will initially manage settlement of the battery’s energy flows into the demand response programme, but the scope for Simply Energy's services may be extended once other potential market or commercial uses for the device are identified, Tombs says. He expects the trial of the storage device will help identify possible impacts and benefits of the technology on Alpine's business and for others, including end-users.