Xcel Energy Inc., the Minneapolis-based owner of utilities that operate in eight U.S. states, is testing energy-storage systems to address reliability issues as the company boosts its use of wind power.

Xcel is exploring ways to store wind-generated power when it isn’t immediately needed, including a 1-megawatt sodium-sulfur battery project, a compressed air-storage project and a wind-to-hydrogen project, Frank Novachek, Xcel Energy’s director of corporate planning, said today during an interview at an IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston.

Utilities sometimes have to switch off wind turbines for coal-fired generation even when windmills are producing electricity, Novachek said. When more power is being produced than is needed, the wind turbines are easier to shut down than the nuclear or coal-fired generators.

“At times, we have to choose coal over wind for grid reliability,” Novachek said. “It’s not a big problem, but the fact we are seeing it now is causing us to think about what we are going to do next.”

Under regulations, Xcel still must pay for a certain amount of wind power, whether it is generated or not, Novachek said. It also cannot claim production credits if wind energy isn’t produced.

Read full article by Mark Chediak at Bloomberg News >>