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28 February 2008 -- Xcel Energy said it soon will begin testing a 1 MW battery storage technology to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and move it to the electricity grid when needed.
Xcel Energy will buy a battery from NGK Insulators Ltd. The sodium-sulfur battery is commercially available and versions are being used in Japan and in the United States. Xcel said this is the first U.S. application as a direct wind energy storage device.
The 20 50 kW battery modules will be roughly the size of two semi trailers and weigh approximately 80 tons. They will be able to store about 7.2 MWh of electricity, with a charge/discharge capacity of 1 MW. When the wind blows, the batteries are charged. When the wind calms down, the batteries supplement the power flow.
The project will take place in Luverne, Minn., with the battery installation beginning this spring adjacent and connected to a nearby 11 MW wind farm owned by Minwind Energy, LLC. The battery is expected to go on-line in October.
Partners in the project with Xcel Energy include the University of Minnesota, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Great Plains Institute and Minwind Energy, LLC.
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