American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Idaho has selected the Pomona Energy Storage Facility to receive first place for Category K, Energy for the 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards Competition. POWER Engineers Incorporated (POWER) provided detailed design to AltaGas for the project. ARB was the contractor.

AltaGas built, owns and operates the storage project at its Pomona Energy Facility natural-gas fired peaking power plant in the east Los Angeles Basin. The 20 megawatt battery storage facility has a discharge capacity of 80 megawatt-hours. Southern California Edison purchases energy from the project under a 10-year agreement, integrating more renewable energy into its system and helping its customers avoid costly outages. The project went online in December 2016.

The project was delivered on time and on budget, which was no small feat given the project's accelerated schedule. Construction of the battery system facility was completed in less than four months, which is the industry's fastest completion of a project this size. The accelerated schedule was necessary to prevent Southern California Edison customers experiencing blackouts from constricted fuel supplies.

"We're pleased that POWER could work with AltaGas and ARB on this fast-track project," said POWER project manager Steve Harris. "The schedule was demanding but we were flexible and in the end, our combined team provided a fast, sustainable solution that also set an industry record."

The facility is one of the largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) in North America. The lithium-ion batteries, software control platform and power conversion technology were provided by Wärtsilä's Greensmith Energy Management Systems, an industry leader in the energy storage space. It reduces the need to fire up natural gas generators at peak times while at the same time mitigating fluctuations from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

POWER also won second place in the Studies, Research and Consulting category for its animated video explaining how to navigate the 36th Street, Hill Road and Catalpa Drive Roundabout.

The dog-bone-shaped intersection is new to Idaho and was unfamiliar to the majority of users. Because users include motorists, cyclists, school children and other pedestrians, each would have a unique way of navigating the intersection. The Ada County Highway District, therefore, faced a challenge in effectively educating each type of user on how to safely move through the roundabout.

To assist in this effort, ACHD called on POWER Engineers' visualization group to provide a clear way of showing motorists and pedestrians how to use the roundabout. POWER and ACHD decided that a narrated video would be the best approach to reach the variety of audiences involved.

POWER Engineers | www.powereng.com