A West Virginia project comprising 97.6 MW of wind generation and 32 MW of integrated, battery-based energy storage is now commercially operational.
According to AES Wind Generation, the wind farm's owner and operator, the Laurel Mountain wind farm consists of 61 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines with a combined power capacity of 97.6 MW and 32 MW of A123 Systems energy-storage devices.
AES says the project provides the system operator, PJM Interconnection, with regulation service, delivering instantaneous response to PJM's requests for power, helping to match generation and demand. The storage also allows the wind facility to control the ramp rate of its generation, smoothing out fluctuations in minute-to-minute output.
The 61 wind turbines are mounted on 80-meter towers deployed along a 13-mile stretch of Laurel Mountain, located in Randolph and Barbour counties near Elkins, W.Va.
