Xcel Energy to deploy 100-hour batteries at retiring coal plants

US utility Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) will install two 10-MW/1,000-MWh multi-day energy storage systems at two of its retiring coal plants, in Minnesota and Colorado.

Under definitive agreements announced last week, US firm Form Energy Inc, which is developing iron-air battery energy storage technology, will deploy its 100-hour batteries at the Sherburne County Generating Station in Becker, Minnesota, and the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo, Colorado. Both storage systems are expected to start operations as early as 2025.

The projects are aimed at helping Xcel Energy to integrate more renewables as it retires the coal power stations in the coming years.

“As we build more renewable energy into our systems, our partnership with Form Energy opens the door to significantly improve how we deliver carbon-free energy so that we can continue to provide reliable and affordable electric service to our customers well into the future,” said Xcel Energy chairman, president and chief executive Bob Frenzel.

The companies used Form Energy’s modeling tool to validate how the multi-day batteries will make Xcel Energy better able to reliably and cost-effectively integrate large volumes of wind energy and other renewables. According to the announcement, the analysis also showed that the battery technology will reinforce the grid against usual day-to-day, week-to-week, and season-to-season weather variations alongside extreme weather events.

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