Title: Advancing the Flywheel for Energy Storage and Grid Regulation - Beacon Power in The New York Times

Industry sector: Energy storage

Advancing the Flywheel for Energy Storage and Grid Regulation

By MATTHEW L. WALD
New York Times - Green Inc.

Beacon Power has begun construction in Stephentown, N.Y., near Albany, on a plant that stores energy in flywheels — essentially rotating wheels or cylinders whose inertia is used to store power or deliver it quickly.

The aim is to use the flywheels to help in power-grid regulation, quickly balancing the second-by-second discord between electrical supply and demand.

Such regulation has always been needed because demand varies from minute to minute. Now, with more solar panels and wind turbines, which only produce electricity when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, supply varies too, making grid regulation even harder.

The flywheel concept for energy storage and regulation, of course, is not new, but Beacon’s design uses newer materials. “It’s a composite, made out of carbon fiber, like golf clubs or tennis rackets,” said Bill Capp, president of the company, which is based in Tyngsboro, Mass.

Each wheel is connected to a single device that can function both as a motor, taking current from the grid and spinning the wheel faster, and as a generator, taking momentum from the wheel and converting it to electricity.

Read the full post at Green Inc.