News Article
Battery Storage Deal
SAIL announces a first in utility-scale solar battery storage
SAIL Venture Partners announced that its portfolio company Xtreme Power Inc., provider of Dynamic Power Resources (DPRs) for utility-scale energy storage, and Xcel Energy have formed a partnership to install a 1 megawatt (MW) system to collect operational data on the integration of energy storage and solar energy systems at the Solar Technology Acceleration Centre (SolarTAC), the nation's largest solar testing facility.
SolarTAC is a private facility in Aurora, Colo. that serves as a solar industry test bed to validate and demonstrate a variety of solar technologies. The role of Xtreme Power's DPR is to perform a number of energy storage and grid asset functions, including output smoothing, time shifting and forecast error mitigation for solar energy generated at the site. The project aims to display the real-world results of integrating storage systems with solar installations, to more efficiently incorporate energy output from renewable sources onto the power grid. Results will be made public to reflect the system's performance over the course of three years.
Walter Schindler, an Xtreme Power Board member and a Managing Partner of SAIL Venture Partners, stated, "The Xcel project marks Xtreme Power's first partnership directly with a utility, its first installation with a solar facility, and its first mainland installation. This project will open many doors for Xtreme in the future." SAIL is an investor in Xtreme Power.
"Taking part in the SolarTAC project with Xcel Energy affords us an opportunity to work alongside one of the most progressive utilities in the industry," said Carlos Coe, CEO of Xtreme Power. "We expect the results to highlight the broad range of benefits battery energy storage brings to PV manufacturers, project developers and power producers, ultimately enabling a more effective utilization of clean energy around the world."
"We hope that this demonstration will prove to be a pivotal point for PV solar energy combined with energy storage, and in turn underscore for utilities and other electricity providers that viable energy storage systems can become a commercial reality," said Frank Novachek, Xcel Energy director for business planning. The DPR will be operational at the site by the end of 2010.
SolarTAC is a private facility in Aurora, Colo. that serves as a solar industry test bed to validate and demonstrate a variety of solar technologies. The role of Xtreme Power's DPR is to perform a number of energy storage and grid asset functions, including output smoothing, time shifting and forecast error mitigation for solar energy generated at the site. The project aims to display the real-world results of integrating storage systems with solar installations, to more efficiently incorporate energy output from renewable sources onto the power grid. Results will be made public to reflect the system's performance over the course of three years.
Walter Schindler, an Xtreme Power Board member and a Managing Partner of SAIL Venture Partners, stated, "The Xcel project marks Xtreme Power's first partnership directly with a utility, its first installation with a solar facility, and its first mainland installation. This project will open many doors for Xtreme in the future." SAIL is an investor in Xtreme Power.
"Taking part in the SolarTAC project with Xcel Energy affords us an opportunity to work alongside one of the most progressive utilities in the industry," said Carlos Coe, CEO of Xtreme Power. "We expect the results to highlight the broad range of benefits battery energy storage brings to PV manufacturers, project developers and power producers, ultimately enabling a more effective utilization of clean energy around the world."
"We hope that this demonstration will prove to be a pivotal point for PV solar energy combined with energy storage, and in turn underscore for utilities and other electricity providers that viable energy storage systems can become a commercial reality," said Frank Novachek, Xcel Energy director for business planning. The DPR will be operational at the site by the end of 2010.
