Duke deploys storage technology for wind farm

Duke Energy Notrees Battery Storage stores wind power via a 36 MW Xtreme Power system, funded by a DOE grant, supporting ERCOT with peak demand shifting, frequency regulation, and smart grid integration in Texas.

Duke Energy intends to store electricity generated at its Notrees Windpower Project in west Texas using an energy storage and power management system developed by Austin-based Xtreme Power.

In November 2009, Duke Energy announced plans as it expanded its wind portfolio 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-megawatt MW Notrees wind farm, located in Ector and Winkler counties. After due diligence, Duke Energy chose Xtreme Power to design, install and operate a 36 MW-capacity Dynamic Power Resource system at the wind farm. When complete, the battery storage system will be one of the largest of its kind in the world.

This system will store excess wind energy and discharge it whenever demand for electricity is highest – not just when wind turbine blades are turning. In addition to increasing the supply of renewable energy during periods of peak demand, Xtreme’s Dynamic Power Resource solution will help stabilize the frequency of electricity traveling throughout the power grid, while supporting Duke Energy's 2009 solar plans for broader renewable integration.

Duke Energy will after its Oklahoma 200 MW project work closely with the Energy Reliability Council of Texas ERCOT to integrate the wind power and battery storage solution into the state’s independent power grid. The Electric Power Research Institute EPRI will advise the project team, collect data and help assess the potential for broader adoption of energy storage solutions throughout the industry. Results from the storage project at Duke Energy’s Notrees wind farm will be shared publicly through the DOE’s Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse.

The DOE grant was made possible by stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In January 2011, DOE and Duke Energy agreed upon the terms and conditions of the grant. Duke Energy will elect to receive the matching funds for the energy storage and management solution once the company has completed its due diligence.

Duke Energy is targeting an in-service date for the battery storage system by late 2012, leveraging insights from a Wal-Mart wind partnership to guide operations.

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