As solar and wind power begin to play a greater role in energy production, systems will be needed to store the electricity produced by these intermittent sources.
Two U.S. companies recently announced significant steps toward introducing massive batteries to the electric grid. These batteries could store excess power from renewable and conventional power sources for release during times of peak demand.
Reno, Nevada-based Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTI) announced that its one megawatt (MW), 250 kilowatt-hour battery storage system met requirements to participate in the PJM Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) control area. This milestone marks the first commercial acceptance of an advanced Lithium-Titanate battery to provide grid regulation services in one of the largest electricity markets in the US.
PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization (RTO) that
coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the
District of Columbia, serving approximately 51 million people.
Watertown, Mass.-based A123Systems, a developer of nanophosphate lithium-ion battery systems, announced that it has installed its first hybrid ancillary power units (H-APU) with AES Energy Storage LLC, a subsidiary of AES Corp. (NYSE: AES).
A123 is under contract to provide multiple H-APUs this year and in 2009 for use in grid stabilization applications in several AES facilities across the world. The initial unit, installed at one of AES’s Southern California power plants, is capable of delivering 2 MW of power at close to 90% efficiency.
Altairnano also has a development agreement with AES Energy Storage, which completed the standard acceptance testing for regulation service within the PJM service territory.
"Open power markets, like the PJM Interconnection, value grid stability services and encourage the deployment of technologies to efficiently serve these needs," said Chris Shelton, President of AES Energy Storage LLC. "By completing the requirements to compete in the PJM Regional Transmission Organization, we are enabling energy storage technologies that can help to make the electric grid smarter and more responsive today."
AES is one of the world’s largest global power companies, with operations in 29 countries, including a platform of more than 120 power facilities and 12 million distribution customers.
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