Green Mountain Power’s Mobile NOMAD Battery-on-Wheels Prevents Outage, Keeps Manufacturing Customer Twincraft Skincare Powered Up

COLCHESTER, Vt. – Deploying a mobile battery-on-wheels, Green Mountain Power (GMP) helped Twincraft Skincare keep its manufacturing line in Essex, Vermont going without disruption during routine power system maintenance. The scheduled maintenance disruption would have otherwise required a six-hour outage for line crew safety. These outages, while necessary for system testing and maintenance, can occasionally disrupt commercial operations such as manufacturing lines, potentially causing financial losses for commercial customers like Twincraft, a family-owned and operated custom contract manufacturer for personal care products.

The use of the NOMAD Transportable Power System marked the first time the mobile battery was dispatched to support a commercial customer, and the system delivered. 

“This is an incredible advancement in technology for GMP customers, and we are very excited to be part of its first commercial deployment here at Twincraft Skincare,” David Speed, Vice President of Engineering. “We recognize that disruptions are a normal course of business, but they are just that, disruptions, and to avoid them in the future by using clean energy stored in the NOMAD mobile battery storage system will absolutely help us stay competitive in the market with greater reliability of operations and will keep our employees on the job.”

In order to safely complete scheduled system upgrades near Twincraft’s facility, an outage was needed. Typically, GMP schedules outages like this for times that have the least impact for customers. However, this can be difficult with operations like Twincraft, which has multiple shifts that run nearly 24-hours per day. 

With the NOMAD now available, GMP engineers calculated the electrical load needed to keep Twincraft powered by the battery during the outage while line crews worked. The NOMAD then back fed a transformer nearby to re-energize a small section of the power distribution system supplying Twincraft with power. Crews worked safely with the power off where they were making upgrades, while Twincraft stayed on and operational. 

“The NOMAD is a great new tool for strategic deployment across the state, and there are several scenarios where we can now provide even greater reliability for customers both residential and commercial,” said Mari McClure, GMP’s President and CEO. “From powering a fire department during a storm, to operating a ski lift, to keeping a cluster of homes powered-up, to supporting local businesses like Twincraft, there are so many opportunities to enhance safety, support commerce, and protect customers. This is a critical part of the future of energy in Vermont.”

GMP purchased the first Vermont-assembled NOMAD last year from Waterbury, Vermont-based Nomad Transportable Power Systems, and is the first to deploy the 2MWh battery this way to avoid an outage. 

“The NOMAD system is designed precisely for this type of application, and it is particularly rewarding to see it used here in our home state to support a fellow Vermont company,” said Paul Coombs, CEO of NOMAD. “As we work to tackle climate change and strengthen the grid, our Vermont team can deliver increased reliability and safety for people all around the world.”

And with a recently announced $9.5 million grant from U.S Department of Energy, GMP and NOMAD will expand this clean-technology even more, bringing long-duration energy storage to five communities in rural Vermont, building on GMP’s Resiliency Zone program to keep communities connected.

When the NOMAD battery is not being used to prevent a specific outage, GMP uses it to help to lower costs for all of its customers. GMP turns to stored energy in the battery during peak power use times, like heatwaves, rather than pulling in more energy from the grid. Energy peaks are when power is most expensive, and carbon intensive, for customers. The amount of energy stored in the NOMAD is enough to power 100 homes for 24 hours. GMP’s growing network of stored energy has helped save customers up to $3 million a year during energy peaks for the past few years. This network includes the mobile NOMAD battery, utility scale batteries, and more than 4,500 residential batteries in customers’ homes. When all is networked together, it is like taking more than 50,000 homes off the grid all at once. 

About Green Mountain Power

Green Mountain Power serves more than 270,000 residential and business customers in Vermont with electricity that’s 100% carbon free and 78% renewable on an annual basis, and GMP is partnering with customers to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is providing solutions to cut carbon and is delivering electricity that is clean, affordable, and always on. GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. In 2022, GMP was named to TIME’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies. Fast Company named GMP one of the top five Most Innovative Companies in North America in 2022. GMP also earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list in the energy sector four years in a row, and in 2023 and 2021 the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) honored GMP as a nationwide leader in energy transformation. 

About Nomad Transportable Power Systems, Inc.

Nomad Transportable Power Systems, Inc. (“NOMAD”), is a Vermont-based company formed by KORE Power in 2020 to provide the energy industry with a standardized mobile energy storage platform. NOMAD is the first entrant into the mobile lithium-ion energy storage space and combines its patent-pending, over-the-road storage units with a standardized docking platform capable of interconnection with any distribution or transmission utility. The NOMAD system was designed from the onset to provide its customers all the benefits of fixed site energy storage, while eliminating both the capital commitments and long-term obligations that traditional energy storage requires.

Green Mountain Power
Kristin Carlson, (802) 229-8200

NOMAD Transportable Power Systems
David Jakubiak, (708) 299-7733 

The NOMAD is a great new tool for strategic deployment across the state, and there are several scenarios where we can provide even greater reliability for customers. From powering a fire department during a storm, to operating a ski lift, to keeping a cluster of homes powered-up, to supporting businesses like Twincraft.

Mari McClure, GMP’s President and CEO

GMP Resiliency Zones