Developer First Wind will include power storage and controls to better balance the power output from its wind project on Ohau.

A developer of power-storage equipment for utility-scale tasks will supply a 15 MVA, 10 MWh battery and power-management controls for the Kahuku Wind Project on Oahu. This marks the second Hawaiian project for which Xtreme Power, Kyle, Texas (xtremepowerinc.com) has supplied equipment. The groundbreaking follows the company’s first commercial pilot at the Kaheawa Wind Project on Maui. The latest wind project, 30 MW from 20 GE wind turbines, is supported by a 1.5-MW Xtreme Power energy storage and power-management system. Results from the Maui project demonstrated the ability of Xtreme Power’s equipment to control ramp rates (up and down) during changes in wind conditions, and to simultaneously store surplus wind power for redeployment during times of peak demand. Both projects are owned by First Wind in Honolulu.

“This marks the second project in which we’ve chosen Xtreme Power as a key partner to help us deliver reliable wind power for the residents of Hawaii,” says First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor. “Hawaii has a huge natural resource in wind and together with Xtreme Power, we are able to effectively deliver that power.”

Overall, Xtreme Power says the project on Maui has demonstrated an ability to:

• Reduce power variability by more than 95%
• Mitigate the issues associated with wind turbine trips and overloads, delivering consistent power to the grid, and
• Effectively store and deliver surplus power.

The 10-MWh storage is possible thanks to capabilities in Xtreme Power’s PowerCells, individual 12 V, 1 kWh, advanced dry-cell batteries that use an unconventional solid-state chemistry. The cell’s characteristics allow assembling thousands in massive parallel and series matrices, ideal for use in large-scale utility applications requiring hundreds of MW while maintaining a manageable footprint. Low internal resistance results in a capability to rapidly charge and discharge large amounts of power.