How does the current battery system work?

The current battery system is utilized to shave OPALCO’s peak.  This means we discharge the battery to reduce the energy need at a specific time of the day, normally the morning from 7-9AM.  This aids in reducing OPALCO power costs from the mainland. Additionally, it is used for outage mitigation. In the case where the Decatur substation’s transmission feed loses power, the battery will try to sustain the loads only for Decatur and Center Island. This has been successful on two instances.