Southern California Edison Selects LG Chem for Home Battery Pilot Program
LG Chem announced that it has been selected by Southern California Edison (SCE) to provide lithium-ion battery packs for a pilot program involving energy storage systems for residential and small commercial applications.
An LG Chem consortium, working jointly with LG Electronics and LS Industrial Systems, is providing a complete system solution to meet the stringent requirements of the home energy storage program. LG Chem will provide the lithium-ion battery packs; LG Electronics will provide the solar photovoltaic inverter and control and communication equipment; LS Industrial Systems will provide the battery charger; and LG Chem Power, Inc., a subsidiary of LG Chem, will assemble the systems, which will then be supplied to SCE.
The energy storage systems at each location will provide 10 kWh of energy, which can assist in reducing peak power usage by up to 4 kW. Field deployment testing of the systems will begin during the third quarter of 2011 and will be completed by the end of 2012.
"This marks an important step in the continued and growing development of alternative energy storage devices that can be used in demand response applications for both economic and reliability load management," said Larry Oliva, Director of Tariff Programs and Services at Southern California Edison. "The test program will provide a broad platform for evaluating complete real-world systems with home energy storage, Demand Response (DR) strategies, renewable energy generation (wind and solar), and SCE’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). It will also allow us to test how these energy storage systems can help mitigate power shortages, as well as enhance our load shifting capabilities and the distribution system's overall reliability."
"We are very pleased to be partnering with such a visionary and influential utility company as Southern California Edison on this home battery pilot program," said Peter Bahnsuk Kim, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Chem. "It is our first business in the utility market and validates the extensive work our team has done in developing lithium-ion battery packs that have application beyond automotive usage"
"Our long history and extensive experience in the development of lithium-ion batteries was certainly key in SCE choosing us for this program," he added. "Our batteries have been extensively tested and proven in our own rigorous processes, as well as by our customers, including General Motors, Ford, and Eaton, who are global leaders in the markets they serve."
