AES Reveals Battery Integration Center, LG Chem and Parker Hannifin are Initial Partners


AES Energy Storage today revealed the AES Battery Integration Center, a technology center located in Indianapolis, Ind., that evaluates advanced battery and power conversion technologies for use in AES Advancion – a complete battery-based energy storage offering, which is now available to utility buyers and renewable developers in select markets. LG Chem and Parker Hannifin are the first manufacturers to become certified suppliers for Advancion through the development of supplier-specific control modules at the Battery Integration Center. This framework reduces costs and enables increased scale by creating a channel for more battery and power conversion manufacturers to participate in AES customer solutions.

“Through the work at the Battery Integration Center, AES Advancion combines best-in-class battery technology and power conversion equipment with our proven control architecture to offer a comprehensive approach to storage solutions,” said Brett Galura, Vice President, Solution Development, AES Energy Storage. “LG Chem and Parker Hannifin are two leading suppliers that will help us continue to bring the benefits of energy storage innovation to key markets.”

AES-certified suppliers are pre-qualified for consideration in Advancion for all future AES customer solutions. AES certified LG Chem’s battery sub-system and Parker Hannifin’s power conversion system into Advancion in 2013. These components are currently running as part of an Advancion battery array at an AES site in Indianapolis, Ind., in a utility environment.

LG Chem delivers reliable technology across a wide range of industries, including consumer electronics, transportation, and, increasingly, in utility applications. Its battery system is currently used in several other grid storage projects, including Southern California Edison’s 32 MW battery in Tehachapi, Calif.

“We’re pleased to enter into this relationship with AES to further expand the utilization of LG Chem batteries in power grid applications,” said Sunghoon Jang, Vice President of the Energy Solution Company at LG Chem. “When we combine AES’ leadership in providing grid-scale energy storage solutions to utility markets with our advanced battery technology, we’re able to deliver a long-term solution that safely meets customers’ capacity needs.”

Parker Hannifin  has supplied its power conversion systems to the storage fleet in the past, including the AES Laurel Mountain Storage Array, where AES is providing 64 MW of advanced battery-based resource. Parker Hannifin’s modular, scalable inverter design allows AES to size the system to the customer’s requirements quickly.

“We have a proven track record of engineering and commissioning advanced battery energy storage systems across the country, and we look forward to building on our long history of working with AES,” said Jim Hoelscher, General Manager, Parker Hannifin’s Global Energy Grid Tie Division. “Our power conversion systems are highly scalable and can be customized for a number of applications, making them ideal for use with the AES solution architecture.”

AES also announced today its Storage Applications Center to test and validate next-generation storage applications within the Advancion architecture.

AES currently has more than 200 MW of grid-scale, power plant equivalent flexibility resource in commercial operation and construction. AES storage resources are currently deployed in the United States and South America.