KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Consumers Energy has snipped the ribbon on a battery the size of a bus near WMU’s Business Park to see what it can do. It’s the first of perhaps thousands of such installations that Consumers will make as they add more solar and wind generation facilities to their grid.
Consumer’s Nathan Washburn says unlike a gas plant that can produce a steady stream of power, rain or shine, there can be fluctuations when a cloud goes over solar cells, or the breeze dies at wind farm. The battery is designed to keep the stream of power leaving the system “smooth”.
Students from WMU and MSU will work with consumers engineers to analyze the data as they put the battery through its paces for a year. Some applications may make sense, some may not.
The one megawatt battery will primarily be used to smooth out the flow of energy coming from the solar array at the BTR Park. It is also wired to serve as a battery back-up to provide power to some of the firms and the engineering school, and some of the homes in the Parkview area in case of a power failure.
He says a megawatt would provide power to a thousand homes, or one Meijer store for about an hour.
It’s not the first in the nation by any means, but it’s the first for Consumers Energy.
Their goal is to have 40% of their power coming from renewable sources by 2040.
The battery system has been installed next to the substation at Parkview and Drake and can be seen on the right as you head west on Parkview towards the U.S.131 overpass.
