Panasonic’s operations hub in Denver has a brand new microgrid. Announced at the Energy Storage Association’s 27th Annual Conference, Younicos – in partnership with Panasonic and Xcel Energy – has commissioned a solar plus storage microgrid for a smart transit project underway in Denver.
The 1 MW/2 MWh lithium ion battery system can be found at Peña Station NEXT, a 400-acre smart city transit development in Denver. Panasonic Enterprise Solutions and Panasonic CityNOW is the anchor corporate tenant.
Energy storage company Younicos has connected four of its modular Y.Cubes, a storage-in-a-box product for commercial and industrial customers that includes software controls that enable grid transactions, to the Xcel Energy power grid at the site. The installation creates a battery storage resource enabled by Younico’s Y.Q. control software. Panasonic’s operations hub building, which has an intelligent building energy management system, is serving as the initial anchor load for the microgrid.
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The energy storage system will provide grid frequency regulation, solar grid integration through ramp control, grid peak shaving and energy arbitrage, as well as back-up power.
“The collaboration with Panasonic on this microgrid project has been seamless and productive, resulting in a state-of-the-art microgrid that will anchor this development,” said Stephen Prince, Younicos CEO. “Our Y.Cube is ideally suited for hybrid utility-and-C&I use cases like this one – providing energy security, resiliency, and financial returns from stacked grid services.”
Each Y.Cube is an integrated ‘plug-and-play’ solution that comprises two sub-enclosures, one each for the power conversion system and DC battery block. Younicos says that the system’s “multi-mode operating capability” will allow Panasonic, Xcel Energy, and other microgrid stakeholders to derive maximum benefits from Xcel Energy’s 1.6 MW solar PV system sited on a parking structure nearby, along with 259 kW of PV on the building’s rooftop.
“This portfolio microgrid is a smart, resilient, and clean energy resource, not just for Panasonic’s Denver operations hub, but also for the broader Peña Station NEXT development,” said George Karayannis, vice president of Panasonic CityNOW. “It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Younicos and Xcel Energy to realize this innovative project.”
What makes this Denver development so unique? A solar plus storage microgrid is at the center of the development’s energy solutions. And the project benefits various stakeholders and the power grid by providing renewables integration, grid resilience, and multiple grid support and operational services, such as peak demand reduction and frequency regulation.
Microgrid Knowledge reported in November the Peña Station NEXT smart city project is part of a plan by Denver to make the Pena Station area into what Panasonic describes as an ultra-modern connected community “with smart, sustainable technologies and responsive infrastructure that taps into the real-time analytics made possible by big data and the Internet of Things.”
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