Duke Energy Renewables, part of Duke Energy's commercial businesses, has announced the completion of its 36 MW energy storage and power management system at its Notrees Windpower Project in West Texas. The system completed testing and became fully operational in December 2012.
Austin, Texas-based Xtreme Power designed and installed the 36 MW-capacity Dynamic Power Resource at Notrees and will continue to operate the system. Duke Energy Renewables says the battery storage project will help mitigate the variability of wind power, 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 company says the system will help stabilize the frequency of electricity traveling throughout the power grid. Duke Energy is working closely with the Energy 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.
In late 2009, Duke Energy announced plans to match a $22 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to install large-scale batteries capable of storing electricity produced by the company’s 153 MW Notrees wind farm, located in Ector and Winkler counties. The grant was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“Completion of this project represents a singular success for Duke Energy, for the DOE, and for the entire energy storage community in the U.S.” says Imre Gyuk, program manager for energy storage at the DOE. “It will demonstrate the capability of energy storage to mitigate the variability of wind energy and to contribute to the stability of the grid."
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 for DOE by Sandia National Laboratory.
