AECOM uses Lockheed Martin GridStar Lithium at Fort Carson.

AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, announced today that it has begun construction of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Fort Carson, Colorado, using Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) GridStar® Lithium energy storage system. The 4.25 MW/8.5 MWh BESS is part of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) project to reduce Fort Carson's energy costs and increase its energy resilience.

(Picture source: Lockheed Martin )

Though there are some existing energy storage systems at military bases, this unit will be the largest stand-alone commercially contracted battery at an army base. The large, revenue-generating BESS operates behind Fort Carson's electric utility meter. It reduces electrical demand during peak intervals, thereby increasing power grid resilience. Because it was procured via ESPC, it required no capital expenditure by the Army.

Implementation of this first-of-its-kind project will combine AECOM's development, integration and construction expertise with Lockheed Martin's modular, resilient GridStar® energy storage units and Geli, Inc.'s predictive analytics control software. The BESS is intended to substantially reduce demand charges that Fort Carson pays to its electric provider.

"During project development, our team surveyed the energy storage industry for the optimum solution for Fort Carson," said Annika Moman, Senior Vice President, AECOM Power and Energy Services Lead. "We decided on Lockheed Martin's GridStar® units due to their unique modular architecture allowing for a flexible design and a reduction in operational risk. Our working partnership with Lockheed and Geli was vital to our team and Fort Carson in making this ground-breaking project happen."

Currently the primary use-case for the BESS is for demand charge reduction, but the BESS may assume additional missions, such as renewables optimization (Fort Carson has large photovoltaic assets), frequency and voltage support for Fort Carson's distribution grid and, potentially, microgrid support.

"Lockheed Martin is pleased to collaborate with AECOM to develop and implement the new military infrastructure that will help Fort Carson increase its resiliency and reduce their electricity costs," said John Battaglini, director with Lockheed Martin Energy. "The versatility of energy storage is a key enabler for the military's aggressive goals of achieving energy resiliency."

Lockheed Martin's GridStar® Lithium turnkey energy storage systems are Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 9540-certified, compact, easy to install, and scalable from 100 kW to multi-MW projects. GridStar® Lithium is ideal for applications such as solar-plus-storage, demand charge reduction at commercial industrial and military facilities, and peak load management at utilities. Lockheed Martin Energy is a line of business that delivers comprehensive solutions across the energy industry to include demand response solutions, energy efficiency, energy storage, microgrids, nuclear systems and bioenergy generation.