(KNSI) – The Public Utilities Commission gave Xcel Energy and Massachusetts-based Form Energy the go-ahead Thursday for a planned battery storage project.
It will be located in Becker at the Sherco power plant. The batteries will help store electricity created by a solar farm set to be installed at the coal-fired plant to help offset the loss of capacity when Xcel phases out the fossil fuel generators by the end of the decade.
Transmission lines are being planned to pull wind power from southwest Minnesota and the Duluth area. Both wind and solar are variable power sources. Solar is unable to produce energy during the night, which can last for up to 15 hours per day in the winter. Wind turbines require a breeze. The batteries could hold 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity for up to 100 hours to be tapped when needed, either because of a lack of supply or due to high demand.
1,000 megawatt-hours is enough juice to keep the lights on at tens of thousands of homes over a short period of time. Form Energy says the battery technology can be installed without raising the cost of your monthly bill. The price tag has not been disclosed, though, and the PUC granted Xcel’s request to keep the information private.
The utility says it will create 15 to 20 jobs during construction. Both the Form Energy battery system and the solar farm are scheduled to open in 2025.
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