Battery storage plant within large load centres

As a long-term strategy, the installation of numbers of battery storage plants (BSPs) in urban centers would significantly raise power system levels of reliability and security. The first large commercial application of a BSP, the Bewag 8.5/17 MW installation, has been in successful operation since January 1987. A brief history of the Bewag development is provided. There are three important advantages of BSP: there are no environmental difficulties to placing them within urban areas; there is an instantly accessible output of MW and MVAr; and commercial consumers requiring a higher reliability will meet much of the capital cost. Utilities would need to offer tariff incentives to gain an operational control of the BSP. The ability for extremely fast output changes of MW and MVAr outputs, coupled with their energy storage, would make BSPs useful for normal and emergency operation as well as speeding up system restoration