Caribbean Utilities Company has signed an agreement with technology group Wärtsilä to supply two 10-megawatt energy-storage systems.
The long-awaited batteries, which will be CUC’s first energy-storage facility, will enable the electricity provider to approximately double its capacity for renewable energy.
The new energy-storage facilities will allow CUC to operate its generating assets in a more efficient manner and reduce fuel costs to electricity consumers, Finnish group Wärtsilä said in a press release.
In addition, the batteries will allow up to approximately 29 MW of distributed customer-generated renewable-energy resources, mainly from rooftop solar panels, without causing instability to the grid.
The battery-storage system was approved by energy regulator OfReg in 2019 and set to be implemented by 2020/2021. But the project was delayed by the COVID pandemic.
The storage systems are now expected to become operational in mid-2023.
Cayman’s power system is isolated from grid-tied electricity, and susceptible to unplanned changes in generation output.
Until now, the network connected electricity-generation sources on Grand Cayman comprised 161 MW of diesel-fuelled generation and approximately 14 MW of solar photovoltaic generation.
The energy-storage systems will be connected to the West Bay and Prospect substations, which will provide spinning reserve capacity, improved frequency response and enhanced grid stability, while also saving CUC on fuel costs, Wärtsilä said.
“Islands like Grand Cayman in the Caribbean demonstrate the importance of energy independence at the forefront of addressing climate change,” the company added.
Sacha Tibbetts, CUC vice president, customer services and technology, said the storage systems represent a crucial step for CUC to integrate more renewable energy into the grid.
“Once this project is completed, we anticipate savings on fuel costs and improved reliability of services for our customers on Grand Cayman,” he said.
Jon Rodriguez, director, engine power plants, for Wärtsilä Energy in North America, said energy storage had proven to be a game changer for the group’s numerous island-based customers in the Caribbean and beyond “to simultaneously lower energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase renewable energy consumption, and improve grid reliability”.
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