IPL to build $25M complex to store 20 megawatts of power

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The utility that provides electricity to nearly a half-million central Indiana homes and businesses plans to build an array of batteries capable of storing 20 megawatts of power.

Indianapolis Power & Light says the $25 million complex that’s expected to go online next summer on Indianapolis’ south side will be equipped with rows of lithium-ion batteries.

The company says the project will help give its electrical grid a boost during peak energy demand periods, and more efficiently balance supply and demand.

IPL says it will be the first large-scale energy-storage system in the 15-state regional power transmission entity Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc.

Energy Storage Association executive director Matt Roberts says the U.S. has about 340 operating energy-storage systems of various types. They can store about 21 gigawatts of power.