New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Developing utility-scale energy storage
7/12/2022
6 min read
Feature
As the generation of renewable energy continues to rise in countries on both sides of the Atlantic, pioneering utility companies are turning their attention to the planning and installation of large-scale energy storage facilities to help manage supply intermittency. Abigail Williams reports.
In the ongoing quest to reduce carbon emissions, utility companies around the world continue to significantly increase renewable energy generation. As the proportion of supply generated from green energy rises, more and more producers are now also beginning to develop large-scale energy storage capacities in order to manage the natural supply intermittency of renewables – and to avoid losing energy in the periods when supply outstrips demand.
Combined production and storage in the US
One of the early pioneers in this area is US-based utility Portland General Electric (PGE), which recently collaborated with Florida-based wholesale electricity supplier NextEra Energy Resources – a subsidiary of NextEra Energy and the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy – on the construction of the Wheatridge renewable energy facilities in Morrow County, Oregon.
The facilities include a 300 MW wind farm, a 50 MW solar facility and a 30 MW battery project, all of which are now fully operational and generating (or storing) renewable power for PGE customers. In total, Wheatridge has the capacity to power approximately 100,000 homes with renewable energy.