Beacon Power Affirms Strong Support for $4-Billion Federal Government Energy Storage and Smart Grid Initiatives
Last update: 4/29/2009 10:16:00 AM
Company Plans to Pursue Energy Storage Project Funding Opportunities Through U.S. Department of Energy Technology Development Grants TYNGSBORO, Mass.,
Apr 29, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Beacon Power Corporation (BCON), a company that designs and develops advanced products and services to support more stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation, announced its full support for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) new smart grid technology development project funding programs. The program plans were announced on April 16, 2009, by Vice President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. The Vice President outlined plans to distribute grants for smart grid technology development ($3.3 billion) and for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability (an additional $615 million). As part of Vice President Biden's announcement, the DOE released a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a smart grid regional demonstration initiative. Beacon Power has reviewed the initial FOA and plans to apply for one or more grants to support deployment of the Company's energy storage technology for grid frequency regulation. "We're very pleased that the Obama administration and DOE have determined that energy storage and smart grid technologies merit funding support to demonstrate the benefits their implementation will bring to our nation's power grid," said Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO. "It's very encouraging that flywheels have been specifically recognized as a candidate technology in the draft Funding Opportunity Announcement." "We are reviewing the relevant energy storage project opportunities," Capp continued, "and we look forward to the details being finalized by DOE. We then expect to submit one or more grant proposals which, if successful, will help Beacon demonstrate how our flywheel technology can provide utility-scale frequency regulation service cleanly and efficiently, and in accordance with federal smart grid requirements." The draft FOA includes proposed funding for one or two energy storage demonstration projects for grid frequency regulation. The proposed total funding to be made available for the project(s) is $40-50 million, on a 50% applicant cost-share basis. The DOE has not yet announced a schedule for finalizing the FOA, or for submission deadlines or award announcements. In addition to and separate from this new funding opportunity from the federal government, Beacon Power and DOE are in the final due diligence stage of the Company's application for a loan guarantee. The loan guarantee, if approved and successfully negotiated, could lead to funding for a large majority of the cost of Beacon's proposed 20-megawatt flywheel frequency regulation plant in Stephentown, New York. The proposed new DOE grant funding opportunities described above are additive to Beacon's loan guarantee application - that is, Beacon has the potential to be awarded both a loan guarantee and one or more co-funding grants under the new DOE initiative.
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