Tesla batteries could serve as back up for Massachusetts wind farm

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Tesla batteries could be used as energy storage for a wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.

Deepwater Wind LLC is looking to partner with Tesla for the 144-megawatt project, as reported by Bloomberg. The company will bid with the state of Massachusetts to build offshore wind turbines that would provide clean energy during peak hours.

The facility would help supplement the power grid by charging up late at night and delivering power during high volume times, according to Deepwater Chief Executive Officer Jeff Grybowski.

National Grid Plc, Unitil Corp. and Eversource Energy — three Massachusetts utility companies — are requesting $9.45 million of clean energy and have opened bidding from solar, hydroelectric and wind companies, as well as other forms of clean energy.

The power companies need supplemental power mainly during winter evenings.

“Those hours are very valuable to the grid,” said Grybowski. “The battery will ensure that we can do that.”

A decision won’t be made until December, and bids are expected to be made public sometime this week.

For Tesla, this project falls directly in line with other Powerpack outfits around the world. The company already has a massive battery operation underway in Australia, and its massive solar plant in Hawaii was created to serve a similar function.

The Massachusetts project, should Tesla and Deep Water Wind win the bid, would only require a 40 MWh storage system. This storage capability would be smaller than the 52 MWh system Tesla has set up on Kauai and the 100 MWh system that will be installed in southern Australia.

Deepwater Wind issued the following press release:

Deepwater Wind Proposing World’s Largest Offshore Wind, Energy Storage Combination

Revolution Wind Farm Bid into Massachusetts Clean Energy RFP

New Bedford, Mass. – July 31, 2017 – Deepwater Wind today unveiled plans for its newest project off the American coast: Revolution Wind, a utility-scale offshore wind farm paired with an energy storage system.

“Revolution Wind will be the largest combined offshore wind and energy storage project in the world,” said Deepwater Wind Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Grybowski. “People may be surprised by just how affordable and reliable this clean energy combo will be. Offshore wind is mainstream and it is coming to the U.S. in a big way.”

Deepwater Wind is proposing the 144-megawatt Revolution Wind farm – paired with a 40 megawatt-hour battery storage system provided by Tesla – in response to the Commonwealth’s request for proposals for new sources of clean energy in Section 83D of the Act to Promote Energy Diversity. Deepwater Wind also provided alternative bids for a larger 288 MW version of Revolution Wind and a smaller 96 MW version.

“Revolution Wind is flexible and scalable. That’s a serious advantage of offshore wind – we can build to the exact size utilities need,” Grybowski said. “We can build a larger project if other New England states want to participate now or we can start smaller to fit into the region’s near-term energy gaps. And our pricing at any size will be very competitive with the alternatives.”

Deepwater Wind also announced that it will be the first offshore wind company to base construction and operations in the City of New Bedford, Mass. The company will locate final turbine assembly and staging operations at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. In addition, Revolution Wind’s long-term operations and maintenance center will be in the City. Together, this project will create hundreds of local jobs in the Commonwealth.

Revolution Wind’s offshore wind-battery storage pairing will allow the Commonwealth to meet two policy goals. First, by reliably delivering clean energy –  backed up with energy storage – during the times when the grid needs it most, Revolution Wind will help to defer the need to construct costly new peaking generating facilities and controversial transmission lines.

Second, Revolution Wind will advance offshore wind development in Massachusetts by providing an avenue to launch the new industry with an initial smaller-scale project, and phase in larger projects in close succession. This way, the Commonwealth’s ratepayers will benefit from increased competition and declining costs, and the regional supply chain will steadily mature.

At 144 megawatts, Revolution Wind could be built in a single construction season, and developed more cost-effectively, and with considerably less risk, than a larger project.

Deepwater Wind will build Revolution Wind in the company’s federal lease site off the coast of Massachusetts. The site is located 30 miles from the mainland and about 12 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The wind farm will be adjacent to Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind Farm, a 90 MW project serving Long Island. Fully-built, the lease site has the potential to host 2 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.

If approved, local construction work on Revolution Wind would begin in 2022, with the project in operations in 2023. Survey work is already underway at Deepwater Wind’s lease area.

Deepwater Wind also intends to submit an offshore wind proposal under Massachusetts’ separate 83C offshore wind RFP; those bids are due in December 2018.

About Deepwater Wind

Deepwater Wind is America’s leading offshore wind developer and the only company operating an offshore wind farm in the United States. The company’s 30MW Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island began commercial operations in December 2016. The company is also in the early stages of development of its South Fork Wind Farm – a 90 MW project scheduled to begin serving Long Island in 2022 – as well as the Skipjack Wind Farm – a 120 MW project on schedule to begin serving Maryland in late 2022. Visit www.dwwind.com for more info.

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