Company Developing Storage Project to Monitor Export Flows in Northern Vermont

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
July 11, 2023

EVLO Energy Storage Inc., a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec, is developing a utility-scale battery energy storage project in Troy, Vermont.

EVLO said the 3-megawatt, 12-megawatt hour storage project will store energy during strong energy production times for later use during times of peak energy demand, thus helping to smooth out the intermittency of renewable power generation and delivering value to utility customers.

The project will also provide data to the U.S. Department of Energy and Sandia National Laboratories to support analysis of how batteries can help the export of energy from the region. The project includes a $2 million cost-share partnership through Sandia’s Energy Storage Demonstration Projects program.

Troy is in the Sheffield-Highgate Export Interface area of Vermont’s electric grid in the northern tier of the state. Generation resources inside the interface are limited in real time to ensure that system capacity is not exceeded in the event of a potential future transmission outage.

From time to time, generation resources in the northern tier are required to curtail output due to the lack of capacity to export power, according to the Vermont System Planning Committee website, which also noted that utilities, clean energy advocates, regulators and other stakeholders are discussing ways that the limitations in the region can be addressed to reduce or eliminate curtailments.

The energy storage project, which is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2023, will consist of EVLO 1000 units, the company’s power converter system platforms and EVLOGIX energy management system. EVLO said it would monitor and maintain the system for 20 years.