Irrigation farmers store wind power with batteries
The Department of Energy (DOE)-funded project will allow the district to store up to 25 megawatts of wind power for use during times of peak demand, rather than just when the wind blows.
According to the Modesto Bee, the batteries will be installed and ready to use during the next growing season. Melissa Williams, MID spokesperson, said, "Our role is to test this technology in real-world conditions. With cost-effective technology for storing industrial-size amounts of energy, we could more widely use renewable power."
Twenty-five megawatts represents only a small portion of total peak electricity demand — which can top 600 megawatts on a summer day — needed for local crop production, but it will displace at least some of the power now being generated from natural gas.
Tom Stepien of Primus Power Corp., manufacturers of the batteries, said, "This will allow MID to run their equipment in a cost-effective, uniform and less polluting manner."
The battery storage test is part of DOE's $620 million smart grid demonstration and energy storage projects. Primus and MID will also contribute funding.
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NEW DELHI - India's electricity industry is in a financial and political tangle.
Power producers sit on thousands of megawatts of underutilized plant, while consumers face frequent power cuts, both planned and unplanned.
Financially troubled generators struggle to escape insolvency proceedings. The state-owned banks that have mostly financed power utilities fear that debts of troubled utilities totaling 1.74 trillion rupees will soon go bad.
Aggressive bidding for supply contracts and slower-than-expected demand growth is the root cause. The problems are compounded by difficulties in securing coal and other fuels, high transmission losses, electricity theft and cash-starved distribution companies.
But India's 36 state and union…
