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DOE Finalizes Hawaii Wind Guarantee, Offers $17 M to N.Y. Energy Storage Project

The Department of Energy last week finalized a $117 million loan guarantee for a 30-MW Hawaiian wind power plant, and this week it said it would offer a $17.1 million loan guarantee to support construction of a 20-MW energy storage system using lithium-ion batteries.

Sponsored by First Wind Holdings, the Kahuku Wind Power project is expected to be the first to meet reliability requirements for wind and solar energy set by Hawaiian Electric Company, the only electric utility operating on Oahu. Successful integration of these new, clean energy technologies is expected to result in increased renewable energy generation and wind energy expansion in Hawaii, the DOE said.

The Kahuku wind power plant uses 12 Liberty wind turbine generators, each rated at 2.5 MW. The turbines are manufactured by Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, Calif. The project will also include a 10-MW battery energy storage system (BESS) manufactured by Xtreme Power Inc. of Kyle, Texas. The BESS is expected to modulate and smooth fluctuations in power output caused by changes in wind levels. When completed, Kahuku will produce the first-ever combined installation of Clipper wind turbines and Xtreme’s BESS.

In related news, on Monday the DOE offered AES Energy Storage LLC a $17.1 million conditional commitment to support construction of the AES lithium-ion energy storage system in Johnson City, N.Y.

Traditionally, grid frequency regulation, which is needed to balance power generation and consumption on the grid, is maintained by burning additional fossil fuels at power plants. The AES project eliminates the need to burn fossil fuels and instead uses battery technology and new software that will provide the same regulation at a lower price.  This advanced frequency regulation capability will allow renewable electricity generation to play a larger role in New York’s transmission network, the DOE said, adding that the AES technology could help reduce carbon emissions by 70% compared to frequency regulation provided by fossil energy suppliers.

The AES project will include advanced lithium-ion battery cells from A123System, Inc., a leading supplier of lithium-ion batteries that provide grid stabilization more efficiently and with less environmental impact than existing resources. The contained battery and related electrical systems are assembled, tested, and validated in an A123 manufacturing facility in Hopkinton, Mass.

The DOE has so far offered conditional commitments to 14 clean energy projects.

Source: DOE

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