BATTERIES BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD THE WIND

EaglePicher plans batteries to store wind-farm energy
Andy Ostmeyer, May 13, 2009 (Joplin Globe)

"EaglePicher Technologies wants to store the…energy generated [by] thousands of turbines that utilities are building across Kansas and other Great Plains states…[W]ind energy — while renewable, clean and free — can also be unpredictable, and that has been the bane of utilities being pushed by voters, legislators and regulators to add more green power.

"EaglePicher Technologies wants to develop commercial batteries big enough to store the Kansas wind, and release it to the grid at times when demand is high but the breeze isn’t blowing. The batteries also would allow storage of energy at night, for example, when the wind might be blowing but demand is low…"

The basic idea. (click to enlarge)

"The power coming from wind farms right now, if it could be charted, would look like a roller coaster…If the wind were recharging large batteries, and those batteries were interfaced with the grid, the steep peaks and valleys of that roller-coaster chart moderate some and the result is a more reliable feed to the grid…But the kinds of batteries it would take to store that wind energy would be enormous…

"…EaglePicher may be able to make as many as three of these huge batteries per year for utilities such as the Empire District Electric Co., which already has two 20-year contracts for wind power from two Kansas wind farms…[T]hose two contracts mean Empire has the potential to get up to 15 percent of its electrical energy from wind, which would allow it to meet renewable energy standards that voters mandated…"

This 6 megawatt storage is at work in Japan. With supportive federal policy, the U.S. could see such technology and projects. (click to enlarge)

"…NGK Industries, of Japan, already has produced a battery for Xcel Energy’s wind farms…[I]ts 1 megawatt battery is a pilot project that was installed earlier this year. It is too soon to know how it is working, but when charged, it is expected to provide enough electricity for 500 homes for seven hours…

"EP would use a different battery chemistry than some of its competitors…It is looking at a lithium-ion combination that has applications in everything from space to implantable medical batteries…[D]eveloping these large commercial battery systems will require large amounts of money, with some of that coming from the U.S. Department of Energy, some from the state of Missouri, and some from the company…[EP] is seeking a partnership with an unnamed utility and is prepared to create as many as 600 [production, research, engineering, technical, management and oversight] jobs in the Joplin area developing the new batteries…"