Flywheel

America’s electric power grid is subject to immense inefficiencies that arise from the interplay between centralized power generation, local power consumption and on demand utility service. To put things into a broad perspective, the nameplate capacity of U.S. generating facilities is about 1 million Megawatts (MW), so if all of our power plants ran 24/7 we would have a theoretical annual generating capacity of 8.7 billion Megawatt-hours (MWh). Since demand for electricity fluctuates on both a daily and seasonal basis, total electric power generation in 2007 was only 4.2 billion MWh, or less than 50% of nameplate...

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced an order from Eaton Powerware for twelve 500 kW DC flywheel systems. These units will ship in the first half of 2006 and be used to upgrade the power infrastructure of an existing data center in the United States.

John Petersen The next few days are going to be a very exciting time in the energy storage and electric vehicle sectors because the Obama Administration is preparing to announce a series of major ATVM Loan and ARRA Battery Manufacturing Grant awards. President Obama will be in Elkhart, Indiana where he will presumably announce an ATVM loan to Navistar (NAV) and may announce some additional ATVM loans or ARRA battery grants. Vice President Biden will be in Detroit where he is scheduled to announce one or more ARRA battery grants and perhaps some ATVM Loans. Secretary...

John Petersen With only a couple trading days left in 2009, this is as good a time as any for a performance review. The predictions I made at this time last year were pretty solid with an 80% accuracy rate on price direction. For the year, a $1,000 investment in each of my green star companies would have yielded a portfolio appreciation of 67%, which handily beat the broader market indices. That being said, my star and caution ratings were a good deal less prescient because I seriously underestimated the potential of both Maxwell Technologies (MXWL) and Active...

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) announced that yesterday it received from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) an executed contract between Beacon Power and NYSERDA under a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Storage Research Program and NYSERDA, to demonstrate an advanced energy storage solution for frequency regulation and grid stability in New York State. The contract is expected to produce approximately $645,000 of revenue, nearly all of it in 2005. The stock is trading up over 20% today on this news.

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced an order from Caterpillar Inc. for eleven one-megawatt flywheel UPS systems. The majority of these systems will be shipped during the current quarter and will be used to provide power protection for a large datacenter in the United States.

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) announced that on March 2, 2005, it received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market stating that because the closing bid price of the Beacon's common stock has been at $1.00 per share or greater for at least 10 consecutive business days, Beacon has regained compliance with Marketplace Rule 4310(c)(4). This is wonderful news for BCON.

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) has announced that it has been awarded a contract from Bechtel Bettis, Inc., to design and deliver an advanced flywheel-based power system demonstration unit. Bill Capp, Beacon Power president and CEO says "...Although this contract is not considered material from a revenue standpoint, these types of projects are significant because they extend our technology portfolio, help defray operating expenses, and can lead to other business opportunities."

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) is scheduled to deliver two presentations at conference sessions next week at the 2nd Annual POWER-GEN Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition, held at the Las Vegas Hilton from March 1-3. Both presentations will focus on the role of flywheel energy storage systems, and Beacon's patented technology in particular, in critical power grid applications.

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced that it has received its first order for two multi-megawatt systems in a parallel configuration. With this order, the total number of megawatt UPS systems sold is now eleven, with eight of these sales occurring in the last 4 months. Active Power's products are a proven alternative to problematic battery-based systems. CleanSource flywheel technology uses the kinetic energy from a constantly spinning steel flywheel to eliminate the need for lead acid battery-based systems.

It’s official! Cleantech, the sixth industrial revolution, has arrived on time and in the midst of extraordinary crisis. Like every good revolution, blood is flowing in the streets; the guillotine is en route to Wall Street and the mob is so busy plotting retribution for the excesses of the past that most have no time to consider the future. But as yesterday’s dynasties decay, crumble and fall, a new generation of visionaries is already building on the wreckage of the past. These are indeed troubled times that bear an eerie resemblance to the opening sentence from A Tale of...

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) announced that it has recently been awarded a United States patent for the unique design and construction of its composite flywheel rim, and that a few days ago, it received a written notification that another U.S. patent on the rim is to be granted in early February 2005. The composite rim is a key component of a flywheel energy storage system, as a rim's mass and ability to spin at high speeds have a direct relationship to the amount of energy that can be stored. Beacon Power, a pioneer in this technology, has been...

John Petersen In December 2008 I went hunting for opportunities in the energy storage sector and selected six pure-play stocks that seemed seriously undervalued. I bought Enersys (ENS) at $6.00, Exide Technologies (XIDE) at $2.00 and Active Power (ACPW) at $0.26. While Enersys and Exide have been fabulous performers with appreciation to date of 442% and 397%, respectively, Active Power has been the runaway champion with appreciation to date of 923%. My other three picks have performed poorly. C&D Technologies (CHHP.PK) is down 96% and finalizing a restructuring that will give 95% of its equity to...

Active Power Inc (ACPW) announced the details behind its latest breakthrough in alternative energy storage. The new technology, based upon the innovative combination of several mature technologies, constitutes a monumental achievement in energy storage by providing the extended runtimes of lead-acid batteries without any of the well-known shortcomings of these cells. This Thermal and Compressed Air Storage (TACAS) technology will be incorporated into Active Power's newest product that will begin shipping as an alpha unit late this year, the CleanSource® XR.

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) was up over 147% at the close today. This move was primarily based on two project wins. One with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the other with the California Energy Commission. The projects would have Beacon Power provide grid frequency regulation and reactive power by utilizing its flywheel energy storage system. The final terms and conditions of the projects have not been disclosed.

In August of last year I wrote an article titled "Grid-based Energy Storage: Birth of a Giant." Over the last 12 months I've written a series of follow-on articles that discuss the principal classes of manufactured energy storage devices and the companies that are making or planning to make products for smart grid energy storage applications. My entire archive of articles on the energy storage sector is available here. One of the biggest problems I've encountered over the last year has been a dearth of reliable third party information that can help investors understand the breadth and...