North American Windpower: Energy-Storage System To Mitigate Variability At Texas Wind Farm

Energy-Storage System To Mitigate Variability At Texas Wind Farm

in News Departments > Projects & Contracts

by NAW Staff Wednesday January 23 2013

Duke Energy Renewables says it has completed a 36 MW energy-storage and power-management system at its 153 MW Notrees Windpower Project, located in West Texas.

Xtreme Power designed and installed the Dynamic Power Resource system at the wind farm and will continue to operate the system. The battery storage project will help mitigate the variability of wind power by storing excess wind energy and discharging it whenever demand for electricity is highest.

In addition to increasing the supply of renewable energy during periods of peak demand, the system will help stabilize the frequency of electricity traveling throughout the power grid. Duke Energy says it is working closely with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which signals to the battery storage system to either dispatch stored energy to increase frequency or absorb energy to decrease frequency.

The Electric Power Research Institute will collect performance data from the battery storage system and help assess the potential for broader adoption of energy-storage solutions throughout the industry. Technical and economic data will also be analyzed by Sandia National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The results of the storage project at the Notrees wind farm will be shared publicly through the DOE's Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse.

The energy-storage project was made possible thanks to a $22 million grant from the DOE awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Duke Energy provided the remainder of the funding for the project.

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