In 2009, the companies announced the commercial operation of a 12MW spinning reserve project at AES Gener’s Los Andes substation in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the first energy storage system deployed in that country.

To date, A123 has shipped more than 35MW of its advanced energy storage units to AES and other customers worldwide, making the company the largest producer of lithium-ion batteries for ancillary services for the power grid, it said.

AES Gener will deploy A123’s energy storage solutions at a new 500MW power plant called Angamos. The advanced energy storage installation provides contingency services to maintain the stability of the electric grid in Northern Chile, an important mining area. It continuously monitors the condition of the power system and if a significant frequency deviation occurs—for example, the loss of a generator or transmission line—the energy storage system is capable of providing up to 20MW of power nearly instantaneously. This output is designed to be maintained for 15 minutes at full power, allowing the system operator to resolve the event or bring other standby units online.

In addition to these projects in Chile, A123’s activity with AES Energy Storage includes the commercial operation of a frequency regulation project at an AES generation plant in Johnson City, N.Y., the first of its kind to be classified as a generator by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Expected to be completed in 2011, the system will supply 20MW of emissions-free reserve capacity to the power market operated by the New York Independent System Operator.