Platte River to install four 5-megawatt batteries

Federal money helps in Estes Park, but full cost in four member communities has not yet been determined

Platte River Power Authority plans to install four 5-megawatt/20megawatt-hour battery energy storages in each of its member communities: Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland.

The installation in Estes Park was awarded with a $350,000 grant from the Colorado department of Local Affairs, using grant money from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office earmarked for rural communities. Total cost of all four battery installations has not been tallied.

Platte River has three approaches to energy storage: 1) four-hour storage on the transmission system to integrate renewables; 2) long-duration storage for extended energy

needs; and 3) four-hour community storage on the distribution system to align energy use with renewable generation and opportunities to support the unique needs of the four communities.