The , U. S. Army, in partnership with a clean energy and energy efficiency firm, has finished installing a battery energy storage program at , Fort Detrick , that is integrated with an existing thermal ability to maintain solar power at the base.
The battery energy storage system ( BESS), installed by the company  , Ameresco, has a capacity of six megawatts. The solar power service at the bottom, which , Ameresco , even installed, has a capability of 18.6 mw, according to a news release.
The BESS may be charged with electricity generated by the solar power ability and power from the energy network that brings energy into , Fort Detrick, according to , Ben Lavoie, Ameresco’s senior director of energy storage and EV solutions.
” We’re able to use solar power generated at the site to meet the site’s have for electricity, function that site’s needs, and also provide a greater benefit of grid stability,” he said.” We can help maintain really trusted, high-quality power is supplied to the site and to the community in general.”
Lavoie said , Ameresco , has installed similar systems at other military bases throughout the , U. S.  , and has worked with the , U. S.  , government for decades to support its energy needs.
Fort Detrick , is home to several government agencies and military services. These include the , U. S. Army Medical Research , and Development Command, the , U. S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the National Cancer Institute’s Frederick campus and the , National Interagency Confederation , for , Biological Research.
The concept for adding a BESS to Fort Detrick ’s renewable energy system was born when the company’s existing solar energy facility first started operating in 2016.
Bob Hughes, executive director of the army ‘s , Office of Energy Initiatives, said , Ameresco , offered to add a BESS to Fort Detrick’s renewable energy system and adjust the existing contract between the company and the Army.
In addition to providing grid stability and other benefits like backup power, the base’s renewable energy system provides financial incentives to , Fort Detrick , for operating it, Hughes said.
Lavoie claimed that more and more installations like the BESS are being used nationwide. He claimed that it is up to the government and the Army to decide whether Fort Detrick’s renewable energy system should expand further.
Hughes said the Army would “like to see it grow ,]but ] we do n’t have any plans to grow that yet”.
Lavoie said implementing the BESS involved cooperation with multiple government agencies like the , Office of Energy Initiatives, as well as the , Defense Logistics Agency , and Fort Detrick’s energy management team.
” It’s one of the first projects where we’ve deployed a battery storage system along with a solar]energy ] system as part of … a renewable energy services agreement”, Lavoie said. ” It’s been a very exciting and cooperative process from that standpoint”.
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( c ) 2024 The Frederick News- Post
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
