Situated near Pullman, Washington near Washington State University and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, the battery started operations last April.
UniEnergy Technologies manufactured the battery, which is integrated with Northern Power Systems’ power converters.
The UET system is an advanced vanadium flow battery, which uses Pacific Northwest National Laboratories technology that was developed with funding from the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity.
Avista has till now used the system for load shifting, frequency regulation, and voltage regulation on the distribution circuit in Pullman.
The addition of the NPS converters will allow the UET system to also support Avista’s customer Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories to provide power supply without interruptions, black start and four-cycle ride-through to SEL’s manufacturing plant.
Northern Power Systems global business development vice president Diego Tebaldi said: "We have been working with UET for some time now as they have selected and integrated the advanced Northern Power FlexPhase technology power converter into their offering for sophisticated grid-forming applications."
"The capabilities and value of our technology provide a unique solution for these demanding applications."
UET electrical engineering director David Ridley said: "We are pleased to be working with Northern Power Systems on this critical project, as their technology allows us to extract the best value for the customer and enable functionalities like black-start, seamless critical load support and microgrid-ready features that most others aren’t offering."
Northern Power Systems designs, manufactures, and sells wind turbines and power technology products, and offers engineering development services and technology licenses for energy applications.
