Flywheel Energy Storage Plant Gets $43M DOE Loan

From the DOE …

Beacon Power, an energy storage company, has been offered $43 million to support the construction of its 20 megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York that will help ensure the reliable delivery of renewable energy to the electricity grid.

DOE Secretary Steven Chu made the announcement July 2. The loan guarantee will be supported through the Recovery Act.

Beacon Power, which is headquartered in Tyngsboro, MA, designs and develops advanced products and services to support more stable, reliable and efficient grid operation. Beacon’s innovative flywheel system, the core component of the 20 megawatt plant, is specifically optimized to perform frequency regulation on utility grids by absorbing and discharging energy to maintain the consistency and reliability of the electric grid.

Beacon’s 20 megawatt power plant project will introduce a newly developed, not yet commercial technology to provide frequency regulation services to increase the nation’s use of renewable energy and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In a separate statement, Beacon Power President and CEO Bill Capp said: “With this anticipated federal funding and expected plant construction, we will make a major transition from development and pilot operation of our flywheel technology to full-scale commercial deployment. For New York initially, and later other regions where plants could be built, it will also signal a dramatic shift to a cleaner, more sustainable method of providing frequency regulation on the grid.”

Read the DOE announcement

Beacon Power Press Release

SGN New York Stimulus Toolkit