Beacon Tests High-Power Flywheels

0

Tyngsboro, Mass.-based Beacon Power Corp., a designer and developer of advanced products and services to support more stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation, has built and tested the Smart Energy Matrix, an integrated matrix of 10 high-power flywheels that operate together to absorb and supply 1 MW of electricity.

The system will be the first of up to 5 MW of flywheel-based regulation capability that will be produced this year and commercially deployed to generate revenues from the provision of regulation services.

Beacon plans to begin system testing in conjunction with ISO New England, during which time the flywheel matrix will respond to actual independent system operator test signals to absorb and supply power. This plan will allow Beacon to meet its schedule to interconnect to the grid and to begin performing frequency regulation services under an ISO New England Alternative Technologies Pilot Program scheduled to begin Nov. 18. That program, which was unanimously approved by ISO New England and its members, has also received formal approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.


‘This is another significant achievement in our company's history and for the electric power industry,’ says Bill Capp, Beacon Power president and CEO. ‘We've proven that a matrix of our Smart Energy 25 flywheels, together with associated electronics, software and other components, can store and release a megawatt of electricity.’

The ISO New England Alternative Technologies Pilot Program will provide revenue for regulation services until permanent market rules have been developed. This process is expected to take approximately 18 months.

SOURCE: Beacon Power Corp.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments