The Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) announced Wednesday that it will partner with San Francisco-based Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) to build the first advanced energy storage system for the department’s Groundwater Treatment Plant.
The water department will use AMS’s battery system and transactive energy platform, Armada, to improve the plant’s operational efficiency, lower energy costs and provide critical grid services to the local electric utility, LBWD announced.
“We are proud to be ahead of the curve by building this energy storage system,” Robert Shannon, president of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners, said in a statement. “This partnership with AMS will deliver many cost-effective and environmental benefits for our
Community.”
The system will provide grid services to Southern California Edison, among a network of batteries throughout the Long Beach area. The 500 kW / 3,000 kWh energy storage project will help integrate solar capacity on said grid, reduce greenhouse gases and provide energy cost savings and operational efficiencies to the city and water department, according to the announcement.
“AMS is extremely proud to partner with the Long Beach Water Department to further the city’s sustainability efforts,” Susan Kennedy, CEO and founder of AMS, said in a statement. “This project helps make the City of Long Beach more resilient while reducing costs and supporting the regional electric grid.”
The project advances what the California Energy Commission calls the Water-Energy Nexus, or the correlation between water and energy use efficiency. Transporting and treating water, treating and disposing of wastewater and using energy to heat and consume water make up nearly 20 percent of the total electricity and 30 percent of non-power plant related natural gas consumed in the state, according to the commission.
“LBWD is excited to implement this forward-thinking technology for our city,” Tai Tseng, deputy general manager of operations of the LBWD, said in a statement. “This system is going to improve our operational flexibility and energy reliability and lower electrical costs for our Groundwater Treatment Plant.”
Projected to be operational by fall of next year, the system is expected to deliver up to $150,000 in yearly energy savings to the City of Long Beach through AMS’s Armada Platform and $1.9 million over 10 years at no upfront cost to the city, according to the release.