Green Options » Xcel Energy http://greenoptions.com/tag/xcel-energy Posts tagged 'Xcel Energy' Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:37:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en New Cost-Effective Battery Tested to Store Wind-Power http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/18/new-cost-effective-battery-tested-to-store-wind-power/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/18/new-cost-effective-battery-tested-to-store-wind-power/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:37:33 +0000 Alex Felsinger http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/18/new-cost-effective-battery-tested-to-store-wind-power/

For the first time in America, a company has developed an efficient battery solution to storing wind power, a clear answer to critics who claim turbines are unreliable.

Xcel Energy’s “Wind-to-Battery” project is currently being tested on a Minnesota wind farm. The company believes that the 80-ton battery will power 500 homes for 7 hours when fully charged. The battery’s 20 50-kilowatt modules together are roughly the size of two semi- trailers and can store 7.2 megawatt-hours of electricity.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/18/new-cost-effective-battery-tested-to-store-wind-power/feed/ Colorado to Ditch Two Coal Plants, Moving to Solar and Wind http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/21/colorado-to-ditch-two-coal-plants-moving-to-solar-and-wind/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/21/colorado-to-ditch-two-coal-plants-moving-to-solar-and-wind/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:32:50 +0000 Andrew Williams http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/21/colorado-to-ditch-two-coal-plants-moving-to-solar-and-wind/

State regulators in Colorado have given the green light to plans by Xcel Energy to shut down two coal-powered energy plants in the state, and build one of the world’s largest utility-scale solar-power facilities.

Following discussions lasting several days, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) backed the power company’s voluntary decision to close the two coal-fired plants at Denver and Grand Junction, making Xcel the first utility in the U.S. to make such a move solely in an effort to reduce emissions.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/21/colorado-to-ditch-two-coal-plants-moving-to-solar-and-wind/feed/ How to Not Lose that Wind Power Feelin’ http://sustainablog.org/2008/03/05/how-to-not-to-lose-that-wind-power-feelin/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/03/05/how-to-not-to-lose-that-wind-power-feelin/#comments Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:13:09 +0000 Maria Surma Manka http://sustainablog.org/2008/03/05/how-to-not-to-lose-that-wind-power-feelin/ Wind power batteriesThis is exciting stuff: Xcel Energy is going to test 80-ton batteries the size of two semi-trailers to capture the power generated from its wind turbines.

The utility is testing 20 such batteries with an 11-megawatt wind farm in southwestern Minnesota. There’s a test phase set for this spring and then the batteries are expected to go online in October.

The challenge with wind power, explained an Xcel Energy representative, isn’t that it blows and stops but that the speed of the wind varies. So the system will work like this: When the wind is blowing, the spinning turbines will help charge the batteries. When the wind slows, the batteries will help even out the flow of electricity to the grid. The batteries discharge one megawatt of power, which is enough energy to power about 1,000 homes. The Japanese-made batteries have a life expectancy of 15 years.

This is the first time a utility has used batteries in conjunction with a wind farm to help with peak power demands. By 2020, Xcel Energy is required by Minnesota to get 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources.

BusinessGreen
St. Paul Pioneer Press

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