APCo Requests Proposals for Battery Storage System
Appalachian Power is moving forward with plans to incorporate battery storage to improve electric service reliability and help meet clean energy requirements under the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA).
A formal request for proposals (RFP) from battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturers will be issued Monday, Aug. 1. The company is seeking three systems totaling 7.5 megawatts for installation on the rural Glade-Whitetop circuit that provides power for customers in Washington County, Virginia.
Battery storage systems work by filling the gap when the normal flow of electricity is interrupted for reasons such as lightning or fallen trees. Outages will still occur, but with battery storage customers on the Glade-Whitetop circuit will experience fewer interruptions.
“Reducing the frequency and duration of outages in heavily forested, remote areas is a challenge,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer. “Deploying technology is one way to improve reliability, while also meeting our goals under the Virginia Clean Economy Act to add a mix of renewables and battery storage to our energy portfolio.” The VCEA requires Appalachian Power provide 100 percent carbon-free energy in its Virginia service territory by 2050.
Proposals must be submitted by October 1, 2022. Any proposals selected by Appalachian Power through the RFP process are conditional upon and subject to approval by the required regulatory authorities.
Businesses seeking to submit a proposal can access criteria, required forms, and other specifics online at http://www.appalachianpower.com/go/rfp .
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is part of American Electric Power, which is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions. AEP’s approximately 16,700 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.5 million customers in 11 states. AEP is also one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 7,100 megawatts of renewable energy.
August 1, 2022 @ 9:38 am
This sounds great for Washington County. But….. in the Montgomery County were my family has been without power 3 times already in the last couple of months. it seems every time we get a heavy rain we lose power. 2 of these times it’s been over 8 hours each. The other time it was only out for a couple of hours but that was early morning and it was restored pretty quickly. The other two times the loss of power was in the evening and it went through the night was restored early morning. Last week when it was out I was very angry because we had someone from APCO to come up our road to scout the damage. We knew were the problem was. This outage effected only 4 families. The guy said we will get someone out here “not a huge job”. But we waited I kept looking at the map and it seemed that all people was restored but not us. I finally decided to call APCO hoping to talk to someone and I did get a live person. This was after being out over 8 hours. I ask if she knew anything about when our was going to be restored she repeated what was on the website. I told her I was mad because it looked like all outages had been restored but ours. I also said that I was upset because I husband was disabled and we would need power soon because I would lost a freezer full of food. I told her that this crap was getting old!! What happen this winter? There is so many trees that have gotten bigger and taller growing into the line of the power lines. And no-one was concerned about cutting the trees that are in the way. I have lived here for 22 years and only know of one time that trees had been cut and that was many years ago. What happen this winter with ice and snow. You know and I know it’s going to get bad. I am already worried about what we could face. So I am asking please — trees needs to be cut our road on 233 Teasel Rd. Riner, Va is only one example there is so many more. It’s only going to be worse !! Thanks for ;listening.