Newark, N.J-based PSEG Global LLC and energy storage pioneer Dr. Michael Nakhamkin have formed Energy Storage and Power LLC (ES&P), a joint venture focused on second generation of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology.
CAES technology stores off-peak energy from wind power sources in the form of compressed air in underground reservoirs, and releases this energy during peak hours. CAES can be used for load management of intermittent renewable energy resources or as a stand-alone intermediate generation source for capturing energy arbitrage, capacity payments and ancillary services.
Dr. Nakhamkin led the design and technical implementation of North America’s only CAES plant in McIntosh, Alabama. Dr. Nakhamkin will be the Chief Technology Officer of the joint venture. Roy Daniel, who has been with PSEG since 1994 in various management positions, will be CEO. Daniel has served as asset manager for PSEG Global’s generation in the U.S. and Asia and structured over $1 billion of worldwide transactions working for PSEG Global.
ES&P will license its technology to customers, as well as optimize the performance of CAES plants and provide technical support throughout the CAES project design, development and construction process. Potential customers of ES&P’s CAES technology include electric utility companies, independent power producers, wind developers and transmission owners.
"Energy Storage and Power’s CAES technology is poised to become an important part of the dispatch stack that can address the intermittency of renewables and reduce on-peak power costs," said Stephen Byrd, president of PSEG Energy Holdings, the parent company of PSEG Global. "Our company examined the technology for its own use and decided that the potential was great enough that we wanted a larger role in helping to make compressed air energy storage a technology that is broadly embraced by the electricity sector."
"PSEG has the expertise and financial resources to bring this technology out of the development stage and into the deployment stage. We have learned a lot since building the McIntosh plant in Alabama, and I believe the time is right technically, environmentally and economically for a large-scale deployment of ES&P’s CAES technology," said Nakhamkin. "The technology has evolved to the point where it can be critical to helping this nation meet its growing energy needs while helping decrease carbon emissions from the electricity sector."
Daniel said, "Energy storage is the missing piece of the puzzle for a green, affordable and reliable electric grid for the 21st century. CAES units can manage wind output to create a highly valuable firm dispatchable product. Even independent of wind, it can be a cost-effective intermediate generation source for energy arbitrage, capacity and ancillary services."
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