The first ESS supplied by Saft to the California utility (San Diego Gas & Electric), partially funded by the Department of Energy, ultimately participated in one of the first times in the nation’s history that a microgrid was used to power a large portion of a community during an emergency situation.

Commissioned in late 2012, the contract included three battery containers and one power electronics container, rated at 500kW/1500kWh and installed at a remote desert community microgrid (Borrego Springs). The community is served by a single transmission line that is subject to disruptions due to weather fluctuations and the prevalence of wildfires.

Saft’s ESS solution demonstrated its operational value in the fall of 2013 when intense thunderstorms cut power to the community. Utility engineers were able to call on the microgrid for assistance and used its local power sources to restore electricity to 1,060 customers, including the essential downtown business area. The location’s fragile connection to the power distribution system, proximity to a local substation and prevalence of customer-generated solar power served as an ideal microgrid test site.

Saft recently delivered and installed the second ESS for microgrid application at the same desert community substation. This ESS, which is housed in four containers, is larger in capacity and rated at 1MW/3MWh.

Also rated at 1MW/3MWh, Saft’s third ESS delivery will be used at an urban educational facility. Saft’s ESS will moderate the effects of shade on the rooftop solar power system by shifting energy and buffering during intermittent sunlight.