SHELBY – Upgrades are in order for voltage regulators on the North Express circuit, located at the Northside Substation in Shelby.
Shelby City Council passed a resolution Tuesday authorizing Shelby Mayor Steve Schag to accept the plans and bid specifications for the voltage regulator purchase.
A recent load flow study, completed by GPD engineers, determined the voltage regulators would require an upgrade in order to accept the flow of energy from the 10 megawatt battery energy storage system, 1,800 kilowatt solar array and two 1,800 kilowatt diesel generators.
City partners with AEP for battery energy storage system
On Dec. 18, 2023, councilmembers passed three resolutions entering the city into an agreement with American Electric Power (AEP) OnSite Partners for the battery energy storage system.
AEP will own, operate and maintain the battery system on the 14-acre State Street property, as they do the solar array.
“Both projects will work together to support Shelby’s energy needs and most importantly, reduce the city’s electric transmission and capacity charges,” John Ensman, Shelby director of utilities, told Richland Source in December 2023.
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Ensman said the city’s annual cost for the project is still being determined.
The battery storage project has a projected savings of nearly $12 million over a 15-year agreement with AEP OnSite Partners, he said.
The anticipated commercial operation date for the battery energy system is January 2025.
Bids for voltage regulators begin Saturday
Plans and specifications for the required circuit voltage regulators have been completed. The upgrades will allow for an uninterrupted flow of energy from the battery energy storage system, solar array and diesel generators to the North Express circuit.
Bid advertisements for the project will go out on Saturday, Jan. 20 and 27, according to Ensman, who said bids will be opened Feb. 9 at 10 a.m.
The resolution passed, and was deemed an emergency due to anticipated lead times for the purchase of the voltage regulators.
Ensman said AEP OnSite Partners is reviewing its inventory, as well as the equipment suppliers, to see if it can help decrease the wait time on the regulators.
“We’ll be looking at our suppliers as well, to figure out the fastest way of trying to get these regulators purchased,” he said.
“106 weeks (lead time) has been quoted to us. It could be sooner than that, but as of right now it’s 106 weeks.”
Project remains ‘very feasible’ says Ensman
Despite the more than two-year wait on voltage regulators, Ensman said the battery energy storage system project will proceed as scheduled.
GPD engineers will make adjustments to the current regulators in place, allowing more energy to flow through without creating an interruption.
“We’re going to increase the (current) voltage regulators with different operating dimensions or standards,” he said. “We’ll be doing some line switching in the field to allow us to address the energy.”
Although this wasn’t how he imagined the first year for the 10-megawatt battery storage system, Ensman said the overall project remains very feasible.
“It’s just not the route we would be taking for the first year,” he said. “But once we get all those regulators in place, it (battery storage system) will be at the optimum performance.”
In other action, City Council:
— approved application for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency mosquito control grant.
— approved waiving the late payment charge (penalty) from residential, commercial and industrial utility account holders for the January 2024 billing period.