8minute Solar Energy, Doosan GridTech developing advanced solar+storage software control solution

8minute Solar Energy has partnered with Doosan GridTech to develop an advanced energy software control solution for dispatching energy from advanced photovoltaic solar-plus-storage centers (PVS).

The companies will use the new software first at the Springbok 3 Solar Farm, part of the 448-MW Springbok solar cluster in Kern County, California, which was developed by 8minute. This partnership pairs Doosan’s flexible software platform and energy storage expertise with 8minute’s forward-thinking PVS dispatch approach to maximize asset value creation. The resulting control solution will improve PVS plant output predictability and unlock additional value streams for 8minute and its Springbok 3 off-taker, the Los Angeles Department of Power & Water (LADWP).

“Dispatchable large-scale solar paired with energy storage will be the backbone of the 21st century grid. Smart, innovative software that communicates with the grid is a hugely important part of that future. Partnering with Doosan and their deep experience with energy storage control platforms is a perfect fit,” said Tom Buttgenbach, president and CEO of 8minute Solar Energy. “Matching Doosan’s software ingenuity with our best-in-class technology, engineering, and sophisticated infrastructure financing, we will continue to deliver results and drive down costs while increasing energy production.”

Doosan’s Intelligent Controller was one of the first energy storage control platforms built on open standards interfaces — a key component of the 8minute collaboration which aims to set the industry standard for how utilities communicate with and control PVS assets. This software is currently operating the award-winning Beacon Solar Plant’s 20-MW energy storage system (ESS) that was designed and installed by Doosan for LADWP.

The enhanced Doosan Intelligent Controller used at the Springbok 3 site will uniquely combine several operating modes, such as active power smoothing and predictive active power response with coordinated charge and discharge, giving a smoother power output from the PVS system. The joint team will also develop PVS block strategies to provide contingency frequency support services on top of its baseline output. Additionally, active PV-only control will be initiated to more smoothly ramp the resource up and down based on solar forecasting without the need for an ESS.

The solution will use MESA-ESS as the communication standard between the site and the off-taker, LADWP. Doosan was a founding member of the Modular Energy Storage Architecture alliance (MESA).

“We are honored that the largest independent solar developer in the country has chosen us to work with them to deliver a new approach in predictive dispatch strategies,” said Daejin Choi, CEO of Doosan GridTech. “This engagement capitalizes on our deep visionary legacy developing some of the earliest open standards utility-integrated storage systems, and helps us shape the next wave of PVS deployments between the developer community and their utility off-takers.”