Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Gov. Inslee flips the switch
Vanadium battery
Governor Jay Inslee gestures to the crowd right after the switch was flipped for the $7 million vanadium flow battery system.
A representative of UniEnergy Technologies of Mulkiteo, Wash., shows guests one of the batteries that are housed in ocean-cargo containers.
The switch was flipped last Thursday on a wind-energy battery storage project between Avista, the state of Washington and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.
The occasion marked its connection to the electrical grid.
Gathered in Pullman were Governor Jay Inslee, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rogers, Senator Maria Cantwell, WSU President Elson Floyd and many others sitting in a tent at the corner of a Schweitzer parking lot.
While a blustery wind blew, Floyd took to a podium and began the day’s comments.
He welcomed everyone, noting the occasion.
“One can say it’s quite energizing,” he said.
He mentioned how he bought a Chevrolet Volt that mustered 36 miles per gallon on the highway.
“It’s not enough,” he said. “We need to do better.”
He then introduced Governor Inslee.
The former Selah prosecutor and Fourth Congressional District Representative (Yakima area) began by telling of how the last time he was in Pullman was at the 2012 Lentil Festival while campaigning for governor.
“The lentil bean is a tremendous source of energy and isn’t it great that we’ve gone from the lentil bean to the vanadium flow battery,” he said.
He saluted the “home-grown, public-private” nature of the project.
“I think of Clarence Martin, my predecessor as a Washington governor, namesake of Martin Stadium,” Inslee said. “He laid the first pour at Grand Coulee Dam.”
Alluding that this occasion was somewhat like that, he continued.
“I think we should follow Arnold Palmer on this, who said ‘the more I practice, the luckier I get.’”
Then he concluded.
“Congratulations to everyone involved and especially, Go Cougs,” he said.
State Senator Cantwell followed.
She cited “smart-grid” innovation research at WSU and praised the one-megawatt project, which is now the largest capacity flow battery in operation to date in North America and Europe.
“Pullman really is a smart city,” Cantwell said.
Nearing the flipping of the switch, McMorris-Rogers made a few comments next from the podium.
“I’m also reminded that it all starts with an idea. That’s America,” she said.
Then they all gathered around the giant switch propped near the batteries – which are housed inside white ocean-cargo containers.
The deed was completed as cameras went off.
The 1 MW, 3.2 MWh large-scale battery system is now connected to the electric grid, with the central purpose to store intermittent power, such as wind, when it’s abundant and distribute it during times of need.
Before, electricity generated by wind farms such as Naff Ridge near Oakesdale would need to be tapped as it was created.
“Electric power has to be used instantaneously,” said Paul Kimmel, Regional Business Manager for Avista. “If you’re over-generating, you have to throttle back somewhere in your generation to keep the grid in balance.”
Thus, before this battery project, a windy day in Oakesdale would likely mean a pull-back at Lower Granite Dam, for example. Now, depending on testing to come, the wind energy may be stored for another time.
The $7 million battery project was funded by a $3.2 million grant from Inslee and the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund, along with $3.8 million from Avista.
Over the next year and a half, the system will be evaluated in seven different scenarios, one of which will use the battery storage as a back-up in case of a power outage for manufacturing at SEL.
“We all expect reliable energy that’s there when we need it,” said Heather Rosentrater, Avista’s Director of Engineering and Grid Innovation. “But with renewable energy, that’s not always possible if the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining – until now. We believe battery storage could be the missing piece in this puzzle. And that’s exciting.”
The batteries are made by UniEnergy Technologies (UET) of Mulkiteo, Wash. The advanced vanadium flow battery at the core of the system was developed from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) technology.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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