Analysis of battery storage utilization for load shifting and peak smoothing on a distribution feeder in New Mexico

A Smart Grid demonstration project is currently underway at Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM). The project combines both residential and commercial loads on a dedicated feeder, with high PV penetration ratio, equipped with a 0.5MW substation-sited photovoltaic (PV) system and large-scale utility storage. The unique aspect of the battery storage system being used, is that both slow (load-shifting) and fast (intermittency-mitigation) power discharge modes are possible. Smart meters and customer Demand Response (DR) management, along with some customer-owned storage will all be implemented. This program targets a minimum of 15% peak-load reduction at a specific feeder through a combination of these the devices and measures. In this paper, we present goals, future plans and current results of modeling for the existing and future infrastructure of this Smart Grid project.