The Beacon flywheel farm of 100 MW will stabilize the NY grid.
Fast response, energy-storage flywheels support a more stable, reliable, and efficient electricity grid, says that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR). The rule would require each grid operator under its jurisdiction to structure their regulation market tariffs to provide pay-for-performance. Under pay-for-performance tariffs, grid operators would implement a pricing structure that pays faster-ramping resources a higher price for their service.
Because Beacon’s flywheel systems react in seconds to a grid operator’s control signal — a response exponentially faster than conventional fossil fuel-based regulation resources, pay-for-performance tariffs would let Beacon Power earn increased revenue from the regulation services it provides in those markets. Such markets include the New York ISO, where Beacon is already operating a regulation facility expected to reach 20 MW capacity in Q2 2011.
“FERC’s vote to propose new pay-for-performance market rules is a step in recognizing the superior value that faster-responding regulation resources bring to the grid,” says Judith Judson, Beacon vice president of asset management and market development. “Our experience shows, and FERC agrees, that faster is better.
Fast-responding resources provide important grid stabilization benefits and, as studies indicate, can reduce the overall amount of regulation needed and therefore lower associated costs to consumers.
Frequency regulation is an essential grid-stabilizing service that has typically been performed by slower, less effective, and inefficient fossil-fuel generators. Flywheel-based storage is a proven clean technology that provides regulation service faster and more effectively than fossil fuel-based resources, with zero fuel consumption or CO2 emissions. Furthermore, unlike battery-based systems, the storage capacity of Beacon’s kinetic energy flywheel technology does not degrade as a function of charge/discharge cycles, time, or temperature.
Beacon Power
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