One of the latest advances in renewable energy is called a Battery Energy Storage System, known by the acronym BESS. There are residential versions like the Telsa Powerwall, industrial sized batteries large enough to power entire office buildings, and even ones that backup the Texas power grid. One of the newest BESS sites has just finished completion in Galveston County. Batteries near a substation in Dickison can now support the statewide grid.
This clean, green energy is on the rise in Texas to help keep the lights on even during an outage. ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith visited the Eaton Experience Center in north Houston to learn more about this energy innovation. The site has their own BESS which the team de-energized for safety during the visit.
Rolando Barcenas is an expert in the energy field for power company Eaton. He explained to ABC13 how these battery storage systems can be utilized.
“The benefit of the BESS is not having to use it immediately and store it for later use,” Barcenas said.
It operates like a standby generator but with an important difference.
With a standby generator, you still lose power for a moment if the main power grid were to go down. That’s because the generator has to turn on and begin running. With a battery, you don’t lose power at all because the energy is already there, stored in the battery. “Battery energy storage system is more so the sense of a seamless transition to short term.” In other words, these battery storage systems are the only way to store power in case of an outage.
So, during an outage, Barcenas explains how the computer system associated with a BESS would work. The system’s controller activates the battery’s energy storage to keep the power flowing. And while most batteries have a lifespan of 20 to 25 years before needing to be updated or replaced, the amount of energy a battery can hold is typically only a few hours, depending on the size. That’s why experts recommend having additional power sources like a generator or solar panels to keep things running if the main power grid were to go down.
When it comes to the statewide grid, battery storage systems can both support the grid during an outage and times of peak demand. In August 2023, during the record heat wave that lasted nearly the entire month, the Texas Comptroller’s office reports that extra power stored in statewide battery systems connected to the grid helped reduce energy costs by nearly 50 percent.
And while batteries alone may not be how to foolproof the Texas grid, this type of energy storage is one of a kind and plays an important role in power resiliency. Reminder, most solar panels, wind turbines, and even backup generators can’t store energy for later use like a battery can. Proving to be a safe and effective way to add resiliency to the statewide grid. Which is why plans are in place to expand battery storage capacity in Texas five times over in the next three years. This is to help make our grid more resilient for when we need power the most.
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