Renewable Integration

A safe, reliable and energy-efficient modern grid should be capable of integrating renewable energy resources on a large scale without causing deterioration of performance. Renewable Portfolio Standards have been put in place in many regions to encourage greater market penetration of technologies such as wind and solar power. In other places due to fuel cost or availability, renewable energy is becoming a critical component of the energy supply base. Yet, the highly variable nature of these resources poses a challenge. Without new and more effective approaches for integrating variable generation resources, the deployment of renewable energy could be severely curtailed.

Power output from wind and solar resources is subject to sudden disruption from gusts of wind and passing clouds. Managing this variability has many power system operators searching for tools to stabilize frequency and voltage. Beacon’s fast-responding, durable flywheels are the perfect solution for these high-cycle, high-power applications because they can instantly balance this short-term intermittency, to help restore local or grid-wide power quality. And the high-cycle design life means low costs over time.

U.S. Patents
7,834,479; 8,008,804 (other U.S. and international patents pending).