TECO and Yatec Engineering completed a 2MW Battery (BESS) + 2MWp Solar (PV) project in the islands of Pohnpei, Micronesia earlier this year. Pohnpei, known as one of the four states of Micronesia, has a scenic reputation of royal blue waters, palm trees, and rainforests. Although picturesque in nature, energy access and grid reliability had posed critical issues for locals. The island’s common power outages originally caused residents and businesses to be without power every few days—for hours at a time.

Battery Storage applications served with the purpose of peak shaving, solar energy smoothing, frequency regulation, and back-up emergency power for the island locations. The Micronesian government sought out PV and BESS for a grid-tied solution to support (PCU) Micronesia’s power supplier. Installation of BESS supported power infrastructure at two locations:

1. PV farm in Pohnlangas (1MW/1MWh)
2. Power plant in Nanpohnmal (1MW/1MWh)

With BESS and PV integrations to PCU’s grid, BESS in this application has demonstrated energy storage capacity with increased access to locally generated energy. With more output and less power disruptions, these communities can better thrive in their day to day lives.