Design of the Battery Energy Storage Test Facility

The Battery Energy Storage Test (BEST) Facility is being constructed for the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) by Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) Company. The purpose of the facility, its general design philosophy, the proposed interactions of the facility with advanced batteries and AC/DC conversion equipment, and the layout of the facilty are described in this paper. The BEST Facility is one in a series of projects to encourage commercialization of battery energy storage systems. Through its particular design and implementation, advanced battery systems will be brought from the laboratory to application on a utility system. This step will provide significant information for both manufacturers and utilities on the characteristics of battery energy storage system.