Dive Brief:

• NextEra Energy Resources is preparing to operate a 16.2-MW battery located at an oil-fired power plant in Maine, and will utilize a direct connection with the ISO New England grid to help with regional balancing.
• The Portland Press Herald toured the Wyman Station project in Yarmouth, and reports it could be online within a week.The Wyman station is NextEra's first battery project in New England.
• The 822-WM Wyman Station is pushing six decades old and had been up for sale, but NextEra opted to retain the plant after its power proved necessary to meet demand during extreme winter temperatures. 

Dive Insight:

NextEra had been on the verge of selling its Wyman plant, but after it proved its mettle during the Polar vortex, the company opted to keep the plant. But Wyman is oil-fired, and NextEra is better known for renewables and clean energy technology. The addition of a 16 MW battery system helps bring the plant in line with the company's overall direction.

Greentech Media reported last year that NextEra plans to invest $100 million in battery storage for its solar and wind projects. Vijay Singh, NextEra’s executive director of business development for energy storage, told the news outlet that the company anticipates battery storage will play a much larger role on the grid within the next five years. NextEra already operates batteries in conjunction with renewables in the PJM territory.

Last year, NextEra Energy CEO Jim Robo said that by 2020 energy storage will begin to replace gas peaking plants.  Robo expects energy storage prices to fall in a similar fashion to solar costs, which would put the technology on par cost-wise with gas peaker plants.