Japanese Companies Test System to Stabilize Output from Wind Power

A test to stabilize the electrical output from wind power generation is being conducted at the Miura Wind Park Inc. (Miura City in Kanagawa Prefecture), an affiliate of the Japan Wind Development Co. (JWD). The demonstration is being carried out using an NAS battery electricity storage system, a product of NGK Insulators (NGK), a developer/supplier of electrical equipment, from March to December, 2007. Five-hundred-kilowatt systems were connected to two 400-kilowatt wind power generators.

The output of wind power generators varies depending on wind velocity. Connected to these generators, the system functions as a power station that stores electrical power during times of low demand and discharges it during peak demand, to reduce load fluctuations and provide stable power output. The sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery system, which uses sulfur at that positive electrode and sodium at the negative electrode as active materials, was jointly developed by NGK and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, and is the world's first such system in actual operation. The NAS battery system is compact and light in weight, and about one-third that of a conventional lead-acid battery, offers the prospect of larger capacity in the future.

NGK plans to install this system at the Wakkanai Mega Solar Project for use in conjunction with photovoltaic generation. The project is conducted by Hokkaido Electric Power Company and Wakkanai City in Hokkaido, commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). NGK also plans to offer its system for wind power generation in Europe and United States.

http://www.ngk.co.jp/english/products/power/nas/index.html

Posted: 2007/09/23 02:47:30 PM
Japanese version