Energy storage company Beacon Power has estimated that it will build 40MW of energy storage systems by the end of 2015.
Beacon Power CEO Barry Britt said in a Bloomberg interview that the demand for flywheel storage will double over the next years due to the increase of renewable power plants that raise the need for grid stabilising.
“Demand is being pulled specifically by additional renewable coming on the grid,” said Britt.
The company’s flywheel system stores power using 2,500 pound carbon-fibre cylinders rotating at 16,000 times a minute.
The US-based company’s 20MW flywheel energy storage plant in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania reached its full commercial operation last month.
Brit also said that due to more orders, Beacon Power can reduce the costs of its products. “Our next project will have a more than 50 percent reduction on the price of the Hazle facility,” added Brits.
The company also runs a 1MW flywheel system in Massachusetts and a 20MW plant in New York.
Beacon Power was in financial trouble in recent years. It received a $43m US Department of Energy loan to develop its technology, but went bust in 2011 until Rockland acquired assets and agreements from Beacon Power in 2012.
