EPRI-PJM 2010 Energy Storage Summit

Bill Capp – Beacon Power – Flywheel technology   

Flywheel-based storage technology, a newer energy storage technology, was mentioned often today in the summit as a valuable solution particularly for the frequency regulation-service market.   

Bill Capp, president and CEO of Beacon Power, explained that his company is a leading developer of flywheel technology and began operating in 2008. It has developed projects in ISO New England and in New York and is beginning a project in PJM.   

Flywheels are fast-response energy storage, Capp said. He said flywheels technical advantages are being faster and more effective than incumbent sources, being available separately without generation and having a 20-year projected life.   

“There is a growing consensus that fast-response resources, such as flywheel, should be paid a premium under pay-for-performance pricing,” Capp said, noting the value they bring to energy storage solutions.  

Hear Capp’s presentation. 

Bill Capp

Chris Shelton – AES Energy Storage  

Regulation is a zero-energy service, making it an ideal candidate for supply by storage, said Chris Shelton, director of Energy Storage development for AES Energy Storage, referring to an Oak Ridge National Labs graph.  

Shelton’s parent company, AES, which owns utilities in the United States, has been involved with energy storage devices such as the one-megawatt lithium ion battery array project, currently being piloted at PJM’s facility and a 12 MW lithium ion battery installation in Chile.  

AES has demonstrated market integration with the one-megawatt battery trailer at PJM. Since the unit came on line in December 2008, it passed PJM regulation service certification to become a qualified market participant and now is a revenue-earning market participant following a PJM regulation signal.  

Hear Shelton’s presentation. 

Chris Shelton

Willet Kempton

Willet Kempton, Associate profession University Of  Delaware, MAGICC   

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are an underutilized resource as an energy storage device, according to Willet Kempton, associate professor of the University of Delaware. Kempton is instrumental in the MAGICC initiative, the MidAtlantic Grid Interactive Car Consortium.   

Kempton and his research team at the University of Delaware worked with PJM and other companies to develop the model plug-in electric vehicle demonstrated at the Energy Storage Summit today.   

“There are 23 hours a day you have an expensive piece of equipment sitting there in your driveway,” Kempton said referring to the average number of hours a day a car is not in use but could potentially earn money by providing regulations service by sending electricity back into the system or charging on demand.   

He explained the technology of the PEV and its potential in a bigger scale of supplying power back to the grid.   

Hear Kempton’s presentation. 

Gary Leidich, Executive Vice President and President of FirstEnergy Generation

First Energy Generation, one of the largest generators in the country, has ventured into compressed air energy storage.  While the company operates several wind generation plants, it needs to balance renewable energy with energy storage.

According to Gary Leidich, executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Generation, the company sees the direct effects of abundant wind in the Dakotas – even though the transmission lines between the wind-rich areas and population centers have yet to be built. Specifically, the company has occasionally backed down super-critical coal units to accommodate the influx of wind energy.

The company has a propsoed compressed air energy storage (CAES) project near Akron, Ohio with up to 2,700 megawatt (MW) capability.

Leidich said CAES can increase the  system’s overall efficiency, promotes renewable energy,  lowers overall emissions and offers greater flexibility in meeting customer demand.

“We produce a product (electricity) that is on demand by the customers, “ Leidich said. “There is very little flexibility in that demand.  The customers dictate when utilization of the electricity occurs and that is the challenge with renewables — nature decides when renewable power is available.”

“The beauty of CAES is that when the wind shows up, I know what to do,” he said. “I have a significant resource that can levellize the impact of wind, and I can ensure the customer is getting what they want when they want it.”

Hear Leidich’s presentation.

Robert Schainker

Robert Schainker, Senior Technical Executive for EPRI   

Some  types of energy storage are more appropriate and economical for certain  types of needs depending on the time frame for storage, according to one member of the Technical Panel this afternoon. Panelists representing an energy company, a university development department, an industry research organization and flywheel and compressed air technologies spoke to challenges and developments of energy storage technology.   

Robert Schainker, senior technical executive for EPRI, summarized different energy storage technologies and the most appropriate use of them. He also discussed the associated costs and how costs factors into the best uses for each technology.   

Schainker said energy storage to support wind and solar renewable sources is a higher priority than storage to balance the ramping down period of generation or maintaining frequency regulation.   

For 10-15 hours of storage, compressed air energy storage and pumped storage may be the best technologies used. However, for 15 seconds to a minute to meet regulation service needs batteries might be more appropriate, he said.   

Although the largest amount of the world’s existing storage is pumped hydro storage, with 110,000 megawatts of it throughout the world, it accounts for only 2.5 percent of total U.S. generation.   

He said that the U.S. needs an alternative to pumped storage  to meet the renewable energy growth. 

Hear Schainker’s presentation.