Beacon Power Corporation (Beacon Power), a developer of advanced products and provide services to support efficient electricity grid operation, said that US Department of Energy (DOE) has completed its formal environmental review of Beacon Power's proposed 20-megawatt (MW) frequency regulation plant or flywheel plant in Stephentown, New York. The DOE has also issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).
In its determination, the DOE said that the plant will not have a significant effect on the human environment.
This completes the environmental analysis of the project site that started in July 2008, when the Stephentown Planning Board has given consent for the environmental aspects of the project, by issuing its own negative clearance and determination of non-significance for the project.
Under terms of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), all federal agencies must regard as the potential environmental impact of their proposed actions. The NEPA evaluation comprises reviews of 18 potential environmental impacts, comprising public health and safety, air quality, wetlands, threatened or endangered species, natural resources, and geology and soil. The DOE is in the due diligence stage for a possible loan guarantee for Beacon’s project; this FONSI determination means that the company’s application need not be delayed by the type of time-consuming Environmental Impact Statement that is sometimes mandated for projects being reviewed.
This finding by DOE as to the minimal environmental impacts of our proposed 20-megawatt frequency regulation plant is a major step forward, said Bill Capp, Beacon president and chief executive officer. As the first loan guarantee finalist to complete the NEPA assessment through the Loan Guarantee Program Office, we look forward to DOE’s completion of the remainder of the loan process in the near future.
A Clean and Innovative Use of Energy Storage
Beacon’s proposed 20-megawatt plant would supply frequency regulation services by absorbing energy when it is abundant, storing it in a flywheel energy storage system, and injecting it back as necessary to help the grid maintain electricity frequency within a desired range (60 cycles/second being the target). Beacon’s plant will not directly generate greenhouse gas emissions or other air pollutants, nor will it directly consume fuel, as do conventional fossil fuel-powered generators that provide regulation.