Duke Energy to build 2MW battery storage system at old coal plant

America’s largest electricity utility, Duke Energy, is set to install a 2MW battery-based energy storage system at a retired coal-power plant in Ohio, as part of an effort to enhance the reliability and stability of the grid in the eastern US as more renewable energy capacity is introduced.

The grid-connected system, which will be built in partnership with LG Chem and Greensmith, will be installed at Duke’s retired W.C. Beckjord coal-fired power plant in New Richmond, Ohio – where a separate 2MW storage system already exists.

According to reports, Duke closed the Beckjord plant in 2011, in response to the introduction of tighter US EPA regulations. Its final coal-fired unit was shut down in September 2014, after a large diesel spill occurred on the site in August 2014.

The new energy storage project – the cost of which Duke has not disclosed – will use advanced lithium-ion batteries supplied by LG Chem, while Greensmith will provide intelligent energy storage control and analytics software, and system integration services.

The battery system, which is expected to be operational by the end of this year, would be used to regulate electric grid frequency for PJM, the transmission organisation that powers much of the eastern US.

“Fast-responding energy storage is recognised for the tremendous benefits it provides to grid operations, because it can instantaneously absorb excess energy from the grid or release energy,” said Duke’s vice president commercial transmission, Phil Grigsby.

“Delivering that power in seconds, as opposed to a power plant that could take 10 minutes or more to ramp up, is the unique value the battery system provides to grid operators.

“This accurate and rapid response will help improve the overall reliability and economic efficiency of the grid. It also demonstrates the capabilities of new technologies and the potential for future applications, such as large-scale integration of renewable energy onto the grid.”

According to recent research, Duke currently owns nearly 15 per cent of the grid-connected, battery-based energy storage capacity in the US. As well as its soon to be 4MW of installed commercially operating energy storage systems in Ohio, the utility also operates one of the nation’s largest battery-based energy storage and power management systems – a 36MW unit completed in 2012 in partnership with the US Department of Energy – at its Notrees Windpower Project in Texas.

Initiatives like the latest 2MW Ohio battery storage project suggest Duke is paving the way for the introduction to the grid of much more renewable energy capacity.

“If you think about a wind farm, for example, the wind doesn’t blow at the same rate every hour of every day,” said Duke communications manager Tammie McGee in an interview with the Cincinnati Business Courier.

“I think Duke is looking far ahead at the big picture and recognising that technology is changing, and we want to be on the forefront of that change and make sure we are ready with innovative solutions for where the energy future is going,” McGee said.