{"id":40747,"date":"2011-07-20T16:03:08","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T20:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=40747"},"modified":"2011-07-20T16:03:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T20:03:08","slug":"gm-abb-plan-2012-test-using-volt-batteries-as-smart-grid-backup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/07\/gm-abb-plan-2012-test-using-volt-batteries-as-smart-grid-backup\/","title":{"rendered":"GM, ABB Plan 2012 Test Using Volt Batteries as Smart Grid Backup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Used Chevy Volt batteries could eventually help prop up the nation's creaky electrical grid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If all goes according to plan, General Motors will be producing tens of thousands of plug-in hybrids annually in the coming years.\u00a0 So, what to do with the batteries when it comes time to sent vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt to the scrapyard?<\/p>\n

Even after a decade of use, the lithium-ion battery pack in the typical Volt should have 70% of its capacity left, according to Pablo Valencia, GM\u2019s senior manager for battery lifecycle management.\u00a0 And that means that even as the old Volt is melted down for scrap, those batteries could find new life propping up the nation\u2019s electrical grid.<\/p>\n

Starting next year, GM will partner with energy systems giant ABB to begin testing the use of Volt batteries as an energy storage solution that could serve a variety of purposes from preventing blackouts to helping level out the ups-and-downs of alternative energy sources like wind and solar.<\/p>\n

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Plug In!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWith 33 batteries, I\u2019d be able to give you an uninterruptible power supply to approximately 50 houses for up to four hours during a blackout,\u201d explained Valencia, during a teleconference briefing from the Plug-In Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

GM is just one of many makers looking at ways to use \u2013 and re-use the batteries on electric vehicles to support the electric grid.\u00a0 Toyota has been exploring opportunities where some of its hybrid models could be used to help level out the energy supply in Japan as the result of the nuclear meltdown triggered by that country\u2019s March 11 earthquake and tsunami.<\/p>\n

But the partnership with ABB could turn talk into action, especially if next year\u2019s test program \u2013 which will involve several unnamed but \u201cforward-thinking\u201d utilities proves successful.<\/p>\n

Preventing blackouts is one potential use, but another would be to help load-level the grid.\u00a0 Right now, utilities must put in place enough capacity to readily handle the highest possible demand.\u00a0 In the future, they might call on a network of battery storage systems to provide energy during demand spikes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, battery backup systems could store energy produced when alternative green sources at operating at peak, then pump that back out onto the grid at night, when solar systems stop working, or during lulls when wind generators are out of operation.<\/p>\n

Such concepts are, for the moment, just theoretical, however.\u00a0 It will likely be another decade before the first Volts start to reach the end of their lifecycle freeing up their \u201cnearly-new\u201d batteries for other applications.\u00a0 But the upcoming test could indicate whether utility grid planners can work the concept into their equations as they start to think about the anticipated growth in U.S. electric demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new part of the equation,\u201d said ABB executive Sandeep Bala.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a lot of uncertainty, however, and utilities will want to ensure the battery packs will be able to deliver what\u2019s promised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to prove we\u2019re moving beyond talk and into hardware,\u201d said Valencia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new project teaming GM with energy technology giant ABB will test whether used Chevy Volt batteries could help prop up the nation’s creaky electrical grid – among other things preventing blackouts and leveling the load from wind, solar and other green energy sources. More from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40747"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=40747"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=40747"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=40747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}