Beacon Power Corporation has announced that the California Independent System Operator (California ISO), a not-for-profit organisation that manages the flow of electricity along California's open-market wholesale power grid, has certified Beacon Power's flywheel technology for use as a frequency regulation resource in the state.
A letter from Jim McIntosh, Director, Grid Operations for the California ISO, stated: "The California ISO is pleased to certify that the 100 kW high-speed flywheel technology demonstrated by Beacon Power is an acceptable technology for potential use as a regulation resource for the power grid. The test unit at the research facility in San Ramon demonstrated the ability to respond to real-time data from the Energy Management System at the California ISO as well as the test data we supplied. McIntosh added that "a commercial size facility would, however, have to be significantly larger to provide a noticeable response to our control signals. A 40MW facility, or two of the plants that Beacon is now designing under a contract to the DOE, could provide a portion of the regulation services required by California ISO. The next step is to install at least a 1MW, or preferably a 10MW, commercial facility with two-way communications with the ISO with full integration into our markets, operations, and settlement systems."
