"With the closing of this financing for our first 20 MW plant, we look forward to growing the company, creating jobs, and continuing to deploy our technology in the U.S.," said Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO. "We believe that there is no better way to provide efficient, grid-scale frequency regulation than our flywheel systems, and we're grateful to DOE, through the Loan Programs Office, for its continued strong support and validation of this breakthrough technology."
The Stephentown plant is the first of its kind in the world. Its flywheel systems will provide frequency regulation services to help stabilize and enhance the performance of the New York power grid and enable greater use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The flywheel plant's emissions-free operation will also significantly reduce carbon dioxide levels compared to fossil fuel-based regulation methods used today. At 20 MW, the facility will provide approximately 10% of New York's total frequency regulation capacity on a typical day. As more intermittent renewable energy resources are added to the grid, the regulation market is expected to grow.
The $43 million loan is funded by the US Treasury's Federal Financing Bank, and covers 62.5% of the plant's estimated $69 million cost. Approximately $55 million of this amount is for direct equipment and facility costs. Beacon's equity contribution of roughly $26 million is in place, and includes a combination of cash, in-kind assets, and other eligible project costs. Beacon will immediately begin submitting disbursement requests and continue to do so each month, based on progress toward project completion and subject to compliance with disbursement conditions and covenants. NYSERDA is also providing $2 million in funding for the plant.
"The loan guarantee will help Beacon further develop their groundbreaking technology, which reduces our dependence on foreign sources of energy, creates reliable clean power, and most importantly creates jobs right here in our backyard," said Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. "Beacon Power should be recognized for their contributions to our local economy and for this considerable accomplishment. This exciting announcement also highlights the support for innovative companies contained in the recovery package, which has provided needed access to capital so that small businesses can continue to grow and lead us out of this difficult economy."
The Stephentown project is progressing on time and on budget. Four MW at the plant are expected to be online and earning revenue by the end of 2010. The facility is scheduled to be fully energized with 20 MW online and earning revenue by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Beacon Power is also developing two more 20 MW flywheel-based energy storage plants to provide grid frequency regulation. One plant, to be located at a site within the PJM Interconnection grid operating region, will be partially funded by a $24 million Smart Grid stimulus grant that DOE awarded to Beacon in November 2009. The other project, in Glenville, New York, is the subject of a second loan guarantee application that DOE is currently evaluating.
Frequency regulation
Frequency regulation is an essential grid service that is performed by maintaining a tight balance between electricity supply and demand. Beacon's 20 MW plant has been designed to provide frequency regulation services by absorbing electricity from the grid when there is too much, and storing it as kinetic energy in a matrix of flywheel systems. When there is not enough power to meet demand and frequency falls below desired limits, the flywheels inject energy back into the grid, thus helping to maintain proper electricity frequency (60 cycles/second).
Thanks to their ability to recycle electricity efficiently and act as "shock absorbers" to the grid, Beacon's flywheel plants will also help support the integration of greater amounts of renewable (but intermittent) wind and solar power resources. Unlike conventional fossil fuel-powered generators that provide frequency regulation, flywheel plants will not consume any fuel, nor will they directly produce carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions or other air pollutants, such as NOX or SO2.
Beacon's Stephentown project represents a paradigm shift where an entirely new method of frequency regulation will begin to displace the older carbon-intensive method that has been in use for a century or more. Not only is flywheel-based regulation a zero-carbon emissions technology, it performs far more effectively. A June 2010 study by KEMA, Inc., found that 30 to 50 MW of fast-response energy storage can be expected to provide the same or greater regulation effect as a 100 MW combustion turbine performing frequency regulation. KEMA's findings are consistent with empirical data from the flywheel systems that Beacon has been operating since 2008, under ISO New England's pilot program for energy storage-based regulation.
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