Chemical capacitor to store wind power
March 22, 2010 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Power storage, Wind Power Projects
The utility scale Dynamic Power Resource is well suited for a variety of applications, says its developer. The DPR 15-100C is a containerized unit of 1.5 MW of four quadrant power electronics, 1 MWh of energy storage, and a programmable control system combined to operate with a specific generation, grid, or load application.
Xtreme Power Inc says it has power storage technology that can beat lithium ion batteries in terms of energy efficiency, cycle life, and cost. The Texas-based company won a contract to install a 10-MW battery to back up a 30-MW wind farm planned for Oahu, Hawaii. Project developer First Wind received a $117 million DOE loan guarantee for the project, and Xtreme Power says it will be managing the battery along with the wind farm’s output over a smart grid network.
The company says it’s PowerCell eliminates risks associate with other energy storage technology with features such as nonhazmat rated an no special site permitting required. It operates at ambient temperatures, and 95% of PowerCell materials can be 
recovered and recycled.
Power electronics (blue) sit at the front of the container. PowerCells are placed in two parallel racks (red and black), each capable of 500 kWh. Controls (not shown) are placed on either side of the front door.
Windpower Engineering Editor Paul Dvorak is an experienced mechanical engineer. Paul has seven years of hands on mechanical engineering experience and 23 years of technical writing. Paul is constantly in correspondence with wind turbine manufacturers and wind power researchers. Thanks to this correspondence, he is able to write about wind engineering topics before any other editor in the wind space.
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