California, USA, January 28, 2016 /Xinwengao.com/ - In 2013, the California Energy Commission granted $1.7 million to the US Marine Corp for a microgrid demonstration project. Quantum Energy Storage Corporation (QESC), Poway, California, provided the critical energy storage system to enable multiple microgrid applications.
The project, which is built on CleanSparks’s (www.cleanspark.com) FractalGrid platform, creates a network of smaller microgrids, that services an area of the base that include military personnel housing, parking garage lighting, elevators, and a server room. All of this is part of a larger base microgrid which can island critical loads from the utility. Distributed energy resources interconnected into the microgrid include photovoltaic panel systems, diesel generators, batteries, and the first test of the innovative long-duration kinetic energy storage technology by QESC.
Robert Weisenmiller, Energy Commission Chair, has said that the FractalGrid project will assess modern energy technologies in a real-life setting and, at the same time, supply dependable and secure energy to the US Marine Corp.
Unlike other kinetic energy systems, Quantum uses recycled and completely recyclable materials in its device resulting in a low-cost, reliable, and long-discharge high capacity kinetic energy storage device. The system’s long lifetime design, over 50,000 cycles without degradation, can provide storage benefits for over 25 years. This is far longer than battery systems, which degrade over time, and last less than 5,000 cycles.
Quantum’s kinetic energy storage system is accompanied by its proprietary software platform that monitors and controls the system. In addition, the platform can readily be integrated with other distributed energy resources, including renewable generation from photovoltaic, wind, and tidal sources, and can also control energy flow to and from the grid.
The technology costs far less per kWh than batteries with a much longer life. It is modular, easily installed, and has an attractive rate-of-return.
Most kinetic energy storage systems are utilized to provide grid services to multi-megawatt utilities, principally in frequency regulation. Quantum Energy envisages many other ways its technology can be applied.
For developing countries, Quantum Energy provides its system as backup power when the grid is forced to resort to rolling blackouts, and also support voltage regulation. The system can be used to reduce or even eliminate spinning reserves, such as diesel generators and ancillary fossil fuel burning power plants, by as much as 40%.
According to Omar Saadeh, senior analyst with GTM Research, energy storage has been growing in popularity as isolated communities are moving away from centralized generation in an attempt to cut costs resulting from the uncertainty of fuel prices and transportation. Mr. Saadeh has recently authored a report titled “North American Microgrids 2015: Advancing Beyond Local Energy Optimization”
QESC has demonstrated that its system can deliver lasting backup power at the military base for an average of 10 hours a night. In the daytime, the QESC’s storage units have demonstrated their ability to “shave” peaks from sudden power demands from elevators, compressors, and other devices. The ability to shave peaks as they arise is due to the very high response time (in the millisecond range) of QESC’s energy storage devices. Peak shaving ensures that the overall energy use profile is kept as low and as uniform as possible resulting in substantial cost savings to the user. This technology can also provide grid balancing and power factor correction in future applications.
For places like islands where electricity is expensive (almost $0.40 per kWh), it is estimated the Quantum Energy’s system would result in a payback period of about three to five years by eliminating, or drastically reducing the need for diesel generators.
About Quantum Energy Storage Corporation:
Quantum Energy Storage Corporation is led by Tien Nguyen, formerly of Qualcomm, CommASIC, and most recently, On-Ramp Wireless. Dr. Hari Dharan, formerly of Ford Motor Company, Space Systems Loral, and a University of California, Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering Professor, is the Chief Technology Officer.
For more information on Quantum Energy Storage Corporation please visit: www.qestorage.com/.
Media Contact: Tien Nguyen, Quantum Energy Storage Corporation, (858) 673-1333, info@qestorage.com