Obama Administration Seen Prodding Electric-Power Storage
27 Oktober 2009 - 11:26PM
Dow Jones News
Here's the dirty little secret about clean energy sources such
as wind power: they're often strongest when energy demand is
weakest, creating a mismatch of supply and demand.
Help could be on the way, as the Obama administration is
planning to dole out up to $60 million to promote a patented
technology that stores energy until it is needed. Later this year,
the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to announce which
companies will receive awards for compressed air energy storage
technology, which stores energy in the form of compressed air in
underground reservoirs which can be tapped during peak demand.
"It is clear that we need to be ready for a very quick expansion
of renewables," said Terry Boston, chief executive of PJM
Interconnection LLC, which coordinates electrical transmission in a
13-state region, and who took part in a panel discussion in
Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Boston said while PJM likes renewable
energy sources, they pose challenges because they are intermittent
and often out of synch with customer demand--wind typically blows
hardest at night, rather than in the afternoon, when demand is
higher.
Affordable storage should help overcome that problem, said
Energy Storage and Power LLC President and Chief Executive Stephen
Byrd, who also took part in the panel. ESP, funded with a $20
million investment by utility giant Public Service Enterprise Group
Inc. (PEG), has patented a system for storing electricity in
compressed air, which it says is much cheaper than battery storage
and far more durable.
Batteries are too expensive for overnight power storage, at
least at present, agreed Robert Schainker, head of the power
delivery and markets group at the non-profit Electric Power
Research Institute, based in Palo Alto, Calif., another participant
in Tuesday's discussion. He said renewable energy sources and
energy storage go hand-in-hand, and expressed hope that the U.S.
will move away from short-term investment horizons that have
precluded development of renewable power.
The Obama administration's push for renewable technology seems
to include an understanding of the need for energy storage, with
Energy Secretary Steven Chu raising the issue in a speech--which
Boston said makes him "somewhat optimistic" on the technology's
prospects.
Byrd said some of ESP's customers have applied for Energy
Department grants for compressed air storage. The firm also hopes
Congress will support federal loans for renewable energy, create an
investment-tax credit for energy storage and modify a tax credit
for wind power production to include wind power that is stored
rather than used immediately.
Tax credits already have generated so much wind power production
in west Texas that prices sometimes plummet to the point that
producers will hold back production at night or pay customers to
take it.
"That's a real waste," said Boston. He figures the example in
Texas may serve as a warning for the rest of the country--and spur
development of technology to store electrical power until it's
needed, noting that "it is not sustainable to have large negative
prices" for electricity.
Utilities and the Obama administration are making a related push
to develop so-called "smart grid" technology that will permit
utilities to communicate with customers and adjust prices based on
demand and time of day. Byrd said storing power generated in
low-price periods could help wholesalers and retail customers pay
lower prices in peak periods, even after the introduction of "smart
grid" technology.
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6692; Judith.Burns@dowjones.com