Some of our natural sources of alternative energy, like wind and wave power, just won’t cooperate by producing power when we, or utility companies need it. One solution – stop wasting energy produced in low demand situations, like nighttime0 – and store the energy for a time when it is most needed (or you can charge more for it). Beacon Power, a Massachusetts company, is using a $43 million Federal loan guarantee to build a $67 million energy storage facility in Stephentown, NY.
Beacon’s Smart Energy 25 design is centered around a flywheel storage system that works by accelerating a cylindrical assembly called a rotor (flywheel) to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as rotational energy. The energy is converted back by slowing down the flywheel. The flywheel system itself functions as a kinetic, or mechanical battery, spinning at very high speeds to store energy that is instantly available when needed. Beacon’s Smart Energy 25 flywheel has a high-performance rotor assembly that is sealed in a vacuum chamber and spins between 8,000 and 16,000 rpm. At 16,000 rpm the flywheel can store and deliver 25 kWh of extractable energy.
Beacon Power has designed a grid-scale system it calls the “Smart Energy Matrix” which is a multiple integrated system of (10) Smart Energy 25 flywheels interconnected in an array, or matrix, to provide energy storage for certain utility applications. The Smart Energy Matrix can absorb and deliver megawatts of power for minutes, providing highly responsive frequency regulation capabilities for increased grid reliability with a focus on wind power storage.
The Stephentown project should break ground by year’s end.
additional source: scientific american
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Not to be picky, but the Beacon flywheel is not designed to store energy for use at a later time. As you note, the 100 kW flywheel can only store 25 kWhr of energy. In other works, 15 minutes of energy. The flywheel will be used for power quality applications, specifically frequency regulation, a minute by minute service. Wind power storage will be accomplished by longer term storage technologies – like the vanadium flow battery. See http://www.utility-savings.com for more information.