Thursday, June 11, 2009

Beacon Power lands $2M N.Y. smart grid deal

By Mass High Tech staff

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Tyngsborough-based Beacon Power Corp. has won a $2 million contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop a smart electricity grid.

The company, which makes flywheel-based storage systems, is tasked with building a 1 megawatt flywheel energy storage system in Stephentown, N.Y. In total, the deal calls for Beacon Power to build a system for 20 megawatts of energy storage that will be used for frequency regulation service.

The $2 million funding will be applied to the design, preparation, production, installation, system commissioning, data monitoring and analysis of the matrix, with partial funding applying to interconnection components of the 20 megawatt system.

Initially, the smart grid will be connected via power line to utility operator NYSEG; once the 20 megawatts are in place, the matrix will connect with a National Grid transmission  line. Once installed, Beacon Power will earn commercial revenue from the system.

The company is growing nationally, having signed a similar contract in February with American Electric Power Co. Inc., a large utility based in Ohio.

Founded in 1997, Beacon Power spun out of Boston-based SatCon Technology Corp.’s Energy Systems division. In 2000, the company went public and in 2008 reported a net loss of $23.6 million on total revenue of $70,000.