BP Wind Energy, part of the BP oil and gas group, has signed a deal to launch its first lithium battery wind energy storage facility in the US later this year.
BP has signed a purchase agreement through its Rolling Thunder I Power Partners subsidiary for a Tesla 212kW/840kWh lithium-ion battery to be integrated with the Titan 1 wind farm in South Dakota. The battery will be configured to help manage internal electricity demands of turbines.
The project is the first of its kind in BP’s US-operated wind business— which the company marked “a potential step forward in the performance and reliability of wind energy”.
According to BP, the wind farm, which has 10 turbines, has the capacity to produce 25MW of wind energy— “enough to power around 6,700 homes” each year.
BP Wind Energy CEO Laura Folse said the battery project “will provide valuable insights as we seek opportunities to use energy storage more effectively across our diverse portfolio”.