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Australia earmarks funds for VRB Power
May 4, 2007 - by Dana Childs, Cleantech Group
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VRB Power Systems (TSX-V: VRB) is expected to benefit from $1.83 million that's been made available by the Australian Government to fund solar and wind energy storage in remote areas of the country.
Australia's Advanced Electricity Storage Technologies programme ("AEST") is to provide funding towards the deployment of a number of VRB energy storage systems across Australia, with an initial focus on Windy Harbour, a remote community in Western Australia.
The funding has been made available to VRB Power's Australian distributor, which intends to use the funding to incentivize purchases of up to 90 VRB-ESS™ units at suitable sites across Australia over the next three years.
"VRB energy storage systems, which can store electricity produced by solar or wind generators, are ideally suited to Windy Harbour where residents run diesel or petrol generators to meet their electricity needs," said Len Walker, Managing Director of Cougar Energy. "The aim of the Windy Harbour project is to significantly reduce or eliminate the use of diesel and petrol driven engines for electricity generation."
Australia's 5-year $20.4 million Advanced Electricity Storage Technologies program was announced in June 2004. The program seeks to identify and promote strategically important advanced storage technologies in order to increase the ability of renewable energy-based electricity generation to contribute to Australia's electricity supply system.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, VRB Power Systems is an energy storage technology developer. The VRB-ESS can store and supply large amounts of electricity on demand, the company says.
VRB claims its product is well suited for enabling the provision of "firm" capacity from intermittent renewable generation such as wind and solar, more cost effective and efficient generation of electricity in remote areas, capital deferral for utilities and load levelling (peak shaving).
VRB claims the VRB-ESS has the lowest ecological impact of all energy storage technologies, as it does not rely on substances such as lead or cadmium.
Startup General Compression is also eyeing storage of wind energy, but through mechanical storage of air.
Copyright © 2007 Cleantech Group LLC. All rights reserved, including right of redistribution.
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Comments
Wind Energy Storage
Submitted on May 5th, 2007 by InterestedReaderWind energy storage is precisely what is needed for making wind power considered less intermittant in nature. Wind generators have reached large capacities and when producing an excess of power, the energy should be committed to storage for use later on.
Wind energy storage in wind intermittant areas will hold the key to making wind energy a stable source of power. The value of the wind system will increase and wind will then be seen more than just a way to save fuel consumed in thermal power plants. It should eventually help to replace those thermal plants or at least slow down on new construction of coal burning plants.
Development of large capacity wind energy storage is an essential link in the transition to the production of clean power.
adrianakau@aol.com
Wind energy remains a
Submitted on June 4th, 2007 by InterestedReaderWind energy remains a miniscule and exorbitantly expensive method of producing electricity, as compared with cleaner and cheaper and more reliable nuclear power. Construction costs of wind are 15 to 25 greater than nuclear when mesured on
energy produced per year basis. Aside from destroying the value of thousands of acres of real estate, wind turbines mostly produce very small amounts of energy. They are insignicant in the scheme of things. Note, though, that this development now makes all 7500 $2.5 million turbines out there across the US totally obsolete.
Big deal. Two nuclear plants could replace them all in terms of gross output, and numbers 50 times as large in terms of peak output. And they wouldn't destroy the value of approximately 750,000 acres, as is the case now. Time to start tearing down useless windmills and cleaning up the environment.
I also point out that anyone who thinks this new
form of windmill can guarantee power every day
like every other type of power generator will be disappointed. The wind often doesn't blow for days or even weeks, and these gizmos only store about one day's worth of power. Sorry to burst your bubble. When they say that wind is unreliable, that means it's UNRELIABLE.
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