Texas’s transmission and distribution utility, Oncor, which manages the largest power line network in Texas, has proposed an infrastructure upgrade plan to invest 5.2 billion dollars in a network of large storage batteries that will be connected to the power grid. The plan, which calls for the purchase and installation of up to 5 gigawatts’ worth of energy storage, is proposed by Oncor to be implemented in 2018.
How Can Batteries Enhance the Power Grid?
Power demand in Texas is uneven. Because most Texans power down when they go to sleep at night, demand drops considerably, and power plants can sit idle. During the day, demand increases so greatly that its potential to outstrip capacity–resulting in the occasional power outage–is an ongoing threat. Power generation is uneven, as well, as Texas gets a growing amount of its energy from alternative sources, like solar and wind power. It’s clean and green, but unfortunately these sources can be intermittent. Sometimes the sun shines and the wind blows, and sometimes, not so much.
With their ability to store a surplus of energy and then feed it back into the grid when necessary, utility-scale batteries can solve the problems of both intermittent supply and cyclical demand. Power plants can operate on a more smoothed-out schedule of 24 hours, instead of cranking frantically in the daytime and foundering listlessly at night. Solar arrays and wind farms, such as Duke Power’s Notrees wind farm, with its 36-megawatt battery facility, can store power generated at peak weather to help ease demand on the grid even in non-ideal conditions, such as those hot summer days with nary a breeze to alleviate a jump in air-conditioning use.
One of the main supporting factors behind Oncor’s push to get batteries into the grid is that the cost for the batteries is forecast to be lower by 2018 than previously projected. Electric car manufacturer Tesla, with whom Oncor is in talks, will be producing industrial-sized batteries at its new “Gigafactory” battery production facility in Nebraska, scheduled to open in 2017. A study conducted by The Brattle Group estimates that the lower outlay of costs, along with the ability to bring in revenue by renting storage space on the batteries and a reduction in power prices, would likely result in a savings for power customers of 34 cents per month off the average bill. Consumers would benefit both from a more consistent and reliable source of energy and a small reduction in their utility expenses.
Oncor is responsible for transmitting power to most North Texas including the Dallas and Fort Worth areas.
See Also: New Transmission Lines To Bring West Texas Wind To Dallas And Austin