Hawaiian Electric to try out flywheel system of energy storage
Amber Kinetics will build and install a flywheel system, the first commercially available four-hour duration flywheel, at the Honolulu utility’s Campbell Industrial Park power plant, where the utility will evaluate its operation.
“Energy storage is essential to reach a 100 percent renewable energy future, optimizing the use of Hawaii’s abundant but variable solar and wind energy,” Shelee Kimura, vice president of corporate planning and business development for Hawaiian Electric, said in a statement. “We are collaborating with a variety of partners to test a range of energy-storage technologies.”
The project is jointly funded by Hawaiian Electric and Energy Excelerator. The two entities are also working together on nearly a dozen clean-energy projects, including Stem Inc.’s 1-megawatt energy-storage project and Bidgely’s behavior-based demand-response tool.
Last month, Hawaiian Electric flipped the switch on its first large-scale battery storage system on Oahu at its Campbell plant.
