Quite a bit has to happen behind the scenes when you flip a light switch or turn on your TV. An organization called PJM Interconnection manages the grid, orchestrating the flow of electricity in Pennsylvania, 12 other states and Washington, D.C., from its offices near the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown. A major part of its work is making sure that there is enough electricity to meet fluctuating demand.
That process will become easier once a planned energy storage plant opens in Northeast PA. Beacon Power Corp., a Massachusetts company that specializes in technology to store electricity, is securing money to build the plant near Hazleton. The plant won't generate power; it will store electricity generated elsewhere on the energy grid. Beacon's unmanned plant will use cylindrical, spinning devices called flywheels to absorb excess power and release it when there is not enough being generated on the regional power grid. “It's a mechanical battery of sorts,” company spokesman Gene Hunt explains.
The Pennsylvania plant is expected to have 200 flywheels and be able to store a total of 20 megawatts of electricity. To compare, the average American home used about 11,000 kilowatt hours in 2009.
Beacon estimates it will cost $53 million to build the plant. So far it's secured a $5 million grant from the state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and a $24 million federal grant. Hunt says the company hopes to break ground this summer or fall. The plant should be up and running within 16 months of the groundbreaking, he says.
Source: Gene Hunt, Beacon Power Corp.
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen