Energy Storage System Boosts Reliability in Illinois
Source: Amy Fischbach · T&D WORLD · | August 28, 2020
Ameren Illinois installs a battery system in a remote and rugged portion of its service territory.
The SMS, which features batteries and equipment inside the enclosure, has been set on the foundation
Ameren Illinois’ line crews traverse rough and hilly terrain and flood-prone regions to keep the lights on for the 145 customers in Thebes, Illinois. A 69 kV power line runs through a national forest in southwestern Illinois to power the village near the Mississippi River.
Due to the remote nature of the service territory, the linemen often face challenges when patrolling the area and repairing line damage. For example, a crew recently responded to an outage caused by a tree that was off the right of way, which landed inside the right of way, damaging an H-structure spar arm.
To improve power reliability in the region, the line crews implemented several different projects. For example, the linemen storm-hardened three miles of the 69 kV pole line to fortify and enhance structures. In addition, the crews replaced non-SCADA-controlled 69 kV air break switches with SCADA controlled switches as well as deployed a fault locating, isolation and system restoration (FLISR) control system to enable auto sectionalization of the line and expanded right-of-way widths to enable additional vegetation management trimming.
Installing the Battery System
To further boost reliability, Ameren Illinois installed a new battery system for the village of Thebes, Illinois. The first step was to prepare the site, which included grading and graveling the energy storage site and performing preliminary engineering for circuit modifications necessary to enable the project.
Next, the contractor construction crew poured the foundations to accept the hardware, which included the energy storage container, step up transformer, low-voltage switchgear and metering cabinet. The process of installing the energy storage container required a specialized crane with capabilities to lift and position it in place.