National Grid and partners working on advanced energy storage projects

Premium Power Corp., and sub-applicant National Grid are moving forward on advanced energy storage projects in New York, Massachusetts and California, funded by the United States Department of Energy (DOE).  The three-year project will demonstrate advanced energy storage for utility applications in several locations, including Syracuse, NY where National Grid will install three energy storage units at a substation and at Syracuse University to demonstrate and study storage control methods.  The project team includes Premium Power, National Grid, SMUD, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Syracuse University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. They were selected to run the three-year project that incorporates the fleet control engineering, manufacturing and installation of seven 500-kilowatt/6-hour energy storage systems. The systems will be installed in late 2010.

Energy storage can yield significant benefits throughout the power delivery system. In this project, National Grid and SMUD will control and dispatch seven 500-kilowatt /6-hour energy storage systems. The energy storage systems will enhance electric distribution operations by allowing the utility to shift energy load, manage peak loads, and better integrate renewable systems.

"Energy storage is a game changing technology that provides incredible value to our utility system and our customers," said Stanley Blazewicz, National Grid vice president, global head of technology. Energy storage is just one of many clean energy technologies that National Grid has in its smart grid plans. We can use smart grids to unlock the value of energy storage and other emerging technologies."

Tom King, president of National Grid in the U.S., said, "National Grid believes that smart grid technology is key to the future of energy use and distribution. Embracing new technology will give customers more choice, allow them to better manage their energy use and reduce carbon emissions. Premium Power has the technology of choice for the storage applications we want to demonstrate as part of our overall smart grid development plans."

In addition to this project, National Grid is pursuing its Smart Grid pilot in Massachusetts and National Grid is exploring ways to bring the benefits of Smart Grid to customers in New York.

See original story at:  
http://www.nationalgridus.com/aboutus/a3-1_news2.asp?document=4657

See related stories on this news blog about Tom King's upcoming presentation at the Energy Highway Symposium in Syracuse, and the NY-BEST consortium related to advanced energy storage to support the smart grid.