wind drives growing use of batteries - battery energy storage

By MATTHEW L.
Twenty years of WALDJULY 27, the rapid growth of wind farms, its production is difficult to reliably dispatch, and even difficult to predict, which makes the country's power suppliers compete to develop energy storage to ensure
With the increase in wind installations, companies find themselves dumping energy late at night, adjusting blades so they don't catch up with the wind because there is no demand for electricity.
Grid operators, accustomed to meeting demand by adjusting supply, are now working to maintain stability when supply fluctuates.
The frontier of potential solutions is Hawaii, where officials hope that by 2030, 70% of the energy will need to be met through renewable sources such as wind, solar or biomass.
A major problem is that when the wind tower is closed, it is not possible for the generators on the island to export surplus to neighboring companies or import electricity.
For example, in Maui, the wind power capacity of all people will soon be equal to 1-
Fourth highest demand on the island.
But peak wind and peak demand times are not consistent, raising questions about how Hawaii can achieve its 70% target.
At the moment, the best option seems to be the battery.
In advertising in New York and California, companies are exploring power storage large enough to allow "arbitrage" or to buy electricity at low prices, such as in the middle of the night, sold at a higher price in a few hours.
In the Midwest, a utility company is presenting a storage technology that can go from charging to discharging in a minute, or even in a second, to a few times back, withstand changes in wind and rain and the sun, as well as transmission failures, to support the grid.
In Texas, the company is looking for ways to stabilize the voltage through battery storage, where there is only one transmission line.
Many people in the industry insist that the goal of advertising can be achieved.
But if the energy is intermittent, "You can't do that without some kind of battery," said Peter Roeger, spokesman for Hawaii electric power.
His company has agreed to buy power from a wind farm on the North Shore of Oahu, Boston-
First Wind, an American-based power company, has just broken ground.
This is one of the best wind farms in Hawaii.
But supply is tight and unstable, says Rosegg.
More importantly, it is located on the island farthest from the company's main loading Center, Honolulu, and not even at its height.
Voltage transmission backbone. So the 30-
Megawatt wind farm will have enough power to run about 30 Super Wal-Mart-
Marts will have Xtreme Power in Austin, Texas. , install a 15-
Megawatt Battery
The computer keeps the battery in half.
Carlos J. said most of the day was charged
Chief Executive Officer Coe of Xtreme Power.
If the wind suddenly gets bigger or falls off, the battery flows smoothly so that the grid only sees a more gradual increase or decrease, at some point in the day, no more than 1 MW per minute.
The installation in Hawaii was designed to succeed in a key but unknown feature: frequency regulation.
Alternating
The current power system must operate in a strict cycle of 60 times per second, and the battery system can supply power on a micro-scale, changing the direction from charging to discharge in 60 seconds, and vice versa, to keep the speed stable.
Battery systems can also be used for arbitrage, storing energy at low prices and delivering energy at high prices.
It can hold 10 MW
Hours, this is equivalent to 30-
If the megawatt wind farm runs at full capacity, it will be produced within 20 minutes.
Although there is not much time, this is huge in terms of storage capacity.
Neither the first wind nor Xtreme Power will disclose the cost of the project, but publicly disclosed data show that the cost of the project is $0. 13 billion, and the battery price is about $10 million.
The Department of Energy provided a loan guarantee of $0. 117 billion.
It has proved difficult to predict the cost and value of electricity storage to consumers nationwide.
Electricity stored in off-
The cost of peak hours can be quite low, and the price of peak hours can be quite high.
If reliance on renewable energy reduces the need to burn coal and natural gas, this will create additional advantages. Mr.
Coe estimates the circle of the battery system
Travel efficiency-
That is to say, the battery can provide electricity per megawatt --
Time stored inside
More than 90%.
If this number is confirmed, it will be a major improvement in the current widespread use of the largest form of energy storage-pumping-type hydropower, with an efficiency of 70 to 85%.
In a water-pumping power plant
Peak power is used to pump water from reservoirs at low altitudes to reservoirs at higher altitudes.
During the hours of peak demand, water flows back through the turbine to generate electricity.
Power companies are using other storage and frequency regulation strategies.
In Stephen, NY. Y.
Beacon Power near Albany is a Beacon Power company in Massachusetts, which is building a bank of 200 people.
Tons of flywheel that will store energy from the grid in an instant-to-
The AC system is kept on a strictly 60-cycle torque basis.
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There is a device at the top of each flywheel that can be a motor and the other is a generator that either takes energy and stores it in the flywheel or vice versa.
The Department of Energy provided a loan guarantee of $43 million to assist in the $69 million project.
Doe also supports storage projects that rely on compressed air.
The excess electricity is used to pump air into the underground cavity;
The air is injected into the gas turbine generator when electricity is needed.
In fact, it acts as a turbocharger, running with the wind energy captured the night before, rather than burning natural gas during peak hours.
The department is contributing to two projects explored by the Public Service electricity and gas affiliate, etig Global, based in New Jersey.
The program offers a price of $30 million $0. 125 billion 150
The megawatt project envisaged in northern New York could be an abandoned salt mine of $25 million, $0. 35 billion and $300.
A megawatt project will be built in Northern California.
Both will be used to store off-
Paul H. said that during the peak period, when prices rise, delivery during the peak period
P. spokesman RosengrenS. E. G.
Prescidio in TeX
US power and China-US energy holdings have just completed 4-
The MW battery system has nothing to do with any particular wind farm, but is designed to improve the reliability of the town, served by only one major transmission line.
S. power companies already have smaller batteries working in Ohio and Indiana to provide more stability in the distribution system there.
A version of this article was printed on page B1 of the New York edition on July 28, 2010, with the title: more and more wind-powered batteries are being used.
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