A Beacon Power project in Anchorage, Alaska, will use the company’s
flywheel technology combined with electrochemical battery storage to
construct a 320 kW system. The project is a pilot to see if it will work
in conjunction with renewable forms of energy to counterbalance their
periods of intermittency. If it is successful, similar systems could be
built and used to support remote utilities along the Alaska Railbelt
from the Kenai Peninsula to Fairbanks. Beacon is working with the
Chugach Electric Association, a major local utility.
“We’re very pleased to be moving forward with Beacon on this
important project to help improve Alaska’s grid and enable more
efficient utilization of renewables. Beacon’s flywheel systems have a
solid reputation in terms of operating performance, cyclic durability
and demanding environments. This hybrid flywheel/battery project is an
opportunity to bring proven next-generation technologies that have
strong track records elsewhere to our state – and combine them in an
innovative way,” explained Paul Risse, Chugach’s Senior VP for Power Supply.
Some of the advantages
of flywheels are that they can last over 100,000 full depth of
discharge cycles, and have very low maintenance. Adding a flywheel system
to a battery pack can improve the battery’s lifespan. The flywheel can
be set up to do the heavy lifting for discharging electricity, thereby
saving the battery. Combining the technologies can play to each one’s
strengths.
Another advantage is safety, the company’s flywheels contain no
harmful chemicals and there have been no safety issues with any of their
400 commercially installed flywheels. No hazardous materials are used
in their operation, or generated by it.
Beacon Power Corporation was founded in 1997 and by about 2005, the
company had developed a grid-scale flywheel system. Currently, this
flywheel technology is used in several regional grids within the United
States. Beacon’s flywheels are well-suited for renewables integration,
grid-balancing, and islands and other remote locations.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/29/alaskan-energy-storage-project-will-use-flywheels/