Bowling Green Municipal Utilities
Ormat to install Battery energy storage system in Ohio, under an agreement with Bowling Green Municipal Utilities
Groundbreaking scheduled for February 2022
Ormat plans to install a 12MW/12MWh Battery Energy Storage System in Bowling Green, Ohio (Bowling Green BESS) under an agreement with Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU). The project has been under development since we were selected to negotiate an energy storage service agreement (ESSA) in July 2020 after a competitive RFP process.
Construction groundbreaking of the Bowling Green BESS is scheduled to occur in February 2022. Commercial operation is expected to commence during the third quarter of 2022.
“We brought together tier 1 products, services and engineering talent to design a battery energy storage system that will provide economic and reliability benefits to the City of Bowling Green and its customers for years to come,” commented Ofer Ben Yosef, Executive Vice President - Energy Storage and Business Development. “The system will not only supply up to 12 megawatt-hours of energy to BGMU during peak consumption periods, but it will also provide ancillary services to the region's power grid which is managed by PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM). We look forward to installing our first BESS project in Ohio, as part of our strategy to develop, own and operate energy storage facilities in key US markets, including PJM, New England, Texas and California.”
Under the terms of the ESSA, Ormat will build, own and operate a lithium-ion battery energy storage system adjacent to BGMU’s Dunbridge Road substation and will provide coincident peak load reduction services to BGMU over a minimum term of 15 years. BGMU and its customers will benefit from lower demand charges achieved by drawing power from the battery during peak demand times which will reduce transmission costs. The BESS will also improve BGMU’s operational efficiency by helping to minimize fluctuations in voltage and frequency as the supply and demand for electricity varies. During non-coincident peak hours, Ormat will benefit from revenues received for operating the system, as a demand response asset, in the PJM wholesale regulation market.
Ormat’s design team will serve as system integrator and equipment supplier to provide a turnkey solution that interfaces with its on-site energy management system and remote network operations center. SMA’s inverters and controls will be integrated with Samsung lithium batteries and balance of system components.
“Bowling Green Municipal Utilities is pleased to be working with Ormat. Together, we have developed a unique and mutually beneficial agreement for both parties. Important issues for BGMU were flexibility of services, coincident peak load reductions, and performance guarantees to benefit BGMU customers” said Brian O’Connell, Utilities Director, City of Bowling Green, OH.
About Ormat Technologies
With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (“REG”), with robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter – a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Company’s activity into energy storage services, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage plus Solar PV. Ormat’s current total generating portfolio is 1.1 GW with 1,015 MW of geothermal and Solar generation portfolio that is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe. Ormat’s 83 MW energy storage portfolio is located in the U.S.
