U.S. DOE awards $50 million to Golden Valley Electric Assoc. for new-technology energy storage system at Healy

The world’s largest energy storage system will be built in Healy, south of Fairbanks, by Golden Valley Electric Association and Westinghouse, and including other partners. The U.S. Department of Energy notified GVEA last Friday, Sept. 22, that it will award $50 million for the cooperative and its partners to develop a Long-Duration Energy Storage system in the Interior Alaska community where GVEA also operates two coal-fired power plants.

The system will be capable of storing heat capable that is the equivalent of 100 Megawatts of electricity. It is primarily designed to support large renewable energy projects planned by GVEA and others but it will also be capable, in a “total blackout” emergency of supporting the co-op’s entire system for 10 hours, according to Philip Brennan, CEO of Echogen Power Systems, Inc., an Ohio-based power technology company that is working in partnership with Westinghouse to develop the new technology involved.

It is not a battery but rather a system that works with concrete to store large amounts of heat and a mineral oil fluid to move the heat. This can then be converted into electricity or used in local heat distribution systems. Echogen developed and patented the technology, Brennan said.

The GVEA project has been pending for some time and it is one of 15 U.S. projects announced Friday in a series of grants by the U.S. energy department totaling $325 million intended to demonstrate long-duration energy storage.

Other partners in the Healy project include Echogen, ASRC Energy Services, the Electric Power Research Institute and Shell

Battery storage systems, like one now operated by GVEA in Fairbanks, can store power sufficient for supporting a local grid for several minutes. The BESS operated by GVEA can support 26 Megawatts for 15 minutes, which is enough for GVEA to fire up backup, oil-fired power in blackout emergency.

While this is important to keep a local or regional power grid stable the real purpose of long-duration energy storage is to provide energy to support renewable energy projects like wind and solar, where power generation can be suddenly interrupted, for example if wind speeds suddenly die.

When that happens, power from energy storage and kick in to keep the grid stable and ensure that lights and heating systems stay on. Utility managers refer to this as “regulation” of renewable power generation because of its uncertainty.

There are wind power systems operating now in Interior and Southcentral Alaska with backup power coming from generators fueled by natural gas and oil.

Long duration energy storage system in effect stores wind and solar-generated power, making it available without having to rely on more fossil-fuel generation.

“We are excited about the potential that Long Duration Energy Storage can play in integrating renewable energy, not only in Interior Alaska, but the rest of the Railbelt electric system that serves over 80 percent of Alaska’s population,” said John Burns, GVEA president and CEO.

The railbelt system refers to the Interior and Southcentral power grid that connects Fairbanks, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.