Electric vehicles could help store NW wind energy
To help balance out wind’s variability, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., have found a way to help balance supply and demand. Scientist Michael Kintner-Meyer says electric cars can to do it.
Car charging at OMSI in Portland (Flickr - Adventures of Pam and Frank photostream)
As the Pacific Northwest begins to integrate more renewable energy, grid operators sometimes have trouble predicting the variability that comes with it. Researchers have found a way to use electric vehicles to help balance wind power’s inconsistency.
For the power grid to work, the same amount of power must be produced as the amount that people are using at any given moment. Add sometimes-inconsistent renewable energy into the mix, like wind power, and that’s where grid management gets tricky. Bonneville Power Administration spokesperson Michael Milstein says matching variable power generation with what people use must be accurate.
“Otherwise the grid itself kind of goes out of balance. The cycles of energy get thrown off, and appliances don’t work right and that sort of thing," Milstein says.
But the system could get easier. To help balance out wind’s variability researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., have found a way to help balance supply and demand. Scientist Michael Kintner-Meyer says electric cars can to do it.
