Discussion of new, utility level battery/alt energy storage solutions

[johnsmith12]

We are looking to build our new shop in the country where 3ph is not available. We are using this as an excuse to focus on independent energy for our shop. We are very a manufacturing and engineering firm and open to design and mfg of components to get the job done.

We need approx 100-250KVA of power at peak use but only as little as 20KVA in the evening. We are in Kansas and very focused on wind power but would need to store a substantial amount of power. Rough estimates for a lead/acid battery house put us over 100grand just for the raw lead and acid and that is us making our own batteries. We have to plan for power loss for days at a time and sync a considerable amount of power after hours.

I am interested in about any large scale energy storage solutions that we might be able to create in house. We have looked at zinc-air batteries, compressed air, hot water, Hydrogen conversion from the wind energy, Ethanol creation from wind, etc. Basically anything that makes logical and financial sense to store large amounts of power and be able to use it easily.

I really like the simplicity of batteries due to our large delta of electric loads. If we can store up in the evenings, we should have more than enough during the day. The wind blows approx 12-15mph average here. However, I have to plan for no wind for days...

 

[alehman]

As you have discovered, most energy storage systems are fairly expensive. Compressed air, recovered through a combustion turbine, has proven one of the more cost-effective solutions.

There are two battery technologies being developed for utility scale applications, sodium-sulfur and lithium-ion. One start-up manufacturer of utility scale Li-Ion products is located in the Kansas City area (as am I). Maybe they would entertain using your facility as a demonstration project.

I would caution against trying to build these technologies yourself. Many are very dangerous if not designed and installed correctly.

Alan
“The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is.” Unk.