Firm, utility cooperate on battery test

Mar 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Heidi Gaiser Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.

 

Flathead Electric Cooperative's Kalispell campus will be the first test site for the Zinc Air Inc. battery storage technology, it was announced Friday.

Zinc Air has been working on the production of a battery for storing and generating power at its Columbia Falls plant since 2009. This will be the company's first test run of its technology in the field.

"With Flathead Electric being the largest cooperative in Montana, they are the right partners," Zinc Air President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Wilkins said. "It will be a fantastic partnership to be able to work with them closely and validate our technology off-site at their facility."

Cheryl Talley, Flathead Electric Cooperative director of member and energy services, said Flathead Electric is happy to provide a real-world situation in which Zinc Air can test its product.

"We're just offering space and the assistance in analyzing our bills," Talley said. "There are applications for this technology in the future, and they're local. We most certainly want to help local enterprises succeed."

Talley said expectations are that the battery will be installed and working by June, and the test run should last around six months.

The field trial will allow Zinc Air and Flathead Electric Co-op to run a number of applications for both utility and end-user benefits, such as peak demand reduction and load shifting. One goal is to see how the technology will benefit Flathead Electric Cooperative members.

"We'll hook up and do the grid connect at their corporate facility, and they'll be monitoring the battery with us 24/7," Wilkins said. "We'll be working on evaluating what the best solutions are and where they can find the best revenue streams."

Wilkins expects utilities to be a strong customer base as Zinc Air technology enters new markets.

"Our battery at this stage is ideal for transmission deferral, where they have delays in putting in additional transmission lines, a battery can enhance and stabilize," he said.

In grids that also use wind and solar power, Wilkins said, the battery will be especially effective, since the Zinc Air technology can bridge the energy gap when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing.

"The pursuit of batteries in large-scale storage has been around for decades," he said. "Although we can store energy in cellphones and cars, the only large-scale storage that has been deployed are hydroelectric dams. Where they are it's phenomenal, but for the other 90 percent of the world, energy storage and batteries are the key to solving the problem of having reliable electricity."

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.

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