Wärtsilä’s GEMS to centrally manage multi-state energy storage projects for Duke Energy

Wärtsilä Corporation, Press release 31 August 2020 at 14:00 UTC+2
  • Wärtsilä’s GEMS energy management platform will monitor and optimize multi-state energy storage systems for Duke Energy. Copyright: Wärtsilä

Technology group Wärtsilä has contracted with Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States, for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of three battery storage facilities during the past six months. These facilities will be located in North Carolina and Indiana in the United States.Additionally, Wärtsilä’s GEMS advanced energy management platform will be deployed across the utility’s existing and planned battery storage sites and solar assets across six energy distribution areas. The latest order was booked with Wärtsilä in March.

The projects include Duke Energy’s Asheville (8.8MW/8.8MWh) and Hot Springs (4MW/4MWh with 3MWdc/2MWacMW solar generating system) project sites as a part of the utility’s USD 2 billion grid modernisation program in western North Carolina, as well as Duke Energy’s Crane (4.95 MW/5 MWh) project which will be in Crane, Indiana. Wärtsilä will be providing all three facilities under an EPC contract.

Wärtsilä’s GEMS platform was selected for its real-time control and protection, revenue stacking, and fleet visibility capabilities. GEMS will allow the North Carolina facilities to dispatch energy, provide emergency backup power, and balance the local grid, while also introducing more clean energy into Duke Energy’s service territory.

This collaboration with Duke Energy is a significant milestone for us,” said Andrew Tang, Vice President, Energy Storage and Optimisation at Wärtsilä Energy. “Duke Energy is specifically utilising the GEMS Fleet Director and GEMS Power Plant Controller to monitor, assess and optimize deployments across multiple regions in real-time and integrating GEMS as a data source for their specialised algorithms and analytics. GEMS will be customised for Duke Energy’s deployments to increase grid resilience at sites that require energy storage backup and to ultimately facilitate the first-ever entry into the Midcontinent Independent System Operator market.”

The three storage project sites are expected to be commissioned during 2020 and 2021. Additional GEMS software deployments will be taking place across further energy storage sites over the next several years.

Image caption: Wärtsilä’s GEMS energy management platform will monitor and optimize multi-state energy storage systems for Duke Energy.
© Wärtsilä Corporation

Read more: Wärtsilä energy storage solutions

For more information, please contact:

Aron Rader
Business Development Manager
Wärtsilä Energy
Mob: +1 954 3274784

Aron.Rader@wartsila.com

Mirja-Maija Santala
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Wärtsilä Energy
Mob: +358 400 793 827

mirja-maija.santala@wartsila.com

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Wärtsilä Energy in brief
Wärtsilä Energy leads the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our customers unlock the value of the energy transition by optimising their energy systems and future-proofing their assets. Our offering comprises flexible power plants, energy management systems, and storage, as well as lifecycle services that ensure increased efficiency and guaranteed performance. Wärtsilä has delivered 72 GW of power plant capacity in 180 countries around the world. https://www.wartsila.com/energy/

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2019, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5.2 billion with approximately 19,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
https://www.wartsila.com