Nation’s Largest Battery Installed in Presidio

3/31/10—Electric Transmission Texas LLC (based in Austin) installed a $25 million NAS sodium-sulfur battery system and connected it to the Texas grid. The battery is part of a $70 million project to ensure rural Presidio and the surrounding region will have consistent access to electricity. The battery will store energy and transmit it when back up power is needed. It will go into service this summer.

“Very soon, one of the oldest cities in the United States will begin benefiting from one of the world’s newest technology developments,” said Calvin Crowder, president of Electric Transmission Texas.

Sodium-sulfur batteries are often considered a possible energy storage solution to make wind and solar power more desirable. Such batteries could store energy produced during high wind or direct sunlight, and then distribute the stored energy when demand is up, but the wind or sun are down. The sodium-sulfur battery installed at Presidio is the first in Texas.