OREANDA-NEWS. Duke Energy’s Notrees Battery Storage Project, located in Ector and Winkler counties, Texas, was recently honored with the top utility-scale energy storage innovation award at the 2013 Energy Storage North America (ESNA) Conference and Expo in San Jose, Calif.

The project’s 36-megawatt (MW) advanced lead acid battery helps smooth the naturally variable output from Duke Energy’s 153-MW Notrees Wind Power Project. By storing energy generated by the wind farm, the project can respond quickly to regulate frequency and provide ancillary services for grid management.

“Incorporating energy storage will make the electric industry more efficient,” said Jeff Gates, managing director in Duke Energy’s Commercial Transmission business, and lead developer on the project. “This project has proven the technology can be deployed at commercial scale – and the flexibility and speed of response has provided tremendous benefit to the grid operator.”

The project has been operating since late 2012. Duke Energy matched a USD 22 million Department of Energy grant to develop the project, and Texas-based Xtreme Power designed and installed the battery.

Award winners were judged on services provided to the grid, financing options, ownership model and technology strengths.

“The Notrees project is a success story at taking forward-thinking innovation and creating business value,” said David Mohler, vice president, Emerging Technology at Duke Energy. “It shows that energy storage, as part of the ecosystem for delivering electricity, has an exciting future.”