A U.S. Department of Energy grant will be used by Platte River Power Authority to install a battery storage system in Estes Park, Colo.
Platte River is a not-for-profit, community-owned public power utility that generates and delivers energy and services to Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland, Colorado, for delivery to their utility customers.
“With $700,000 in federal funding through the Colorado Energy Office/Colorado Resiliency Office and local match from the Platte River Power Authority, this public power provider will install a 5 MW/20 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system in Estes Park,” DOE said in a recent news release announcing that 49 states, 5 territories, 254 Tribal Nations, and the District of Columbia had received a combined total of $473.6 million in fiscal year 2024 Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants.
“As the town’s first battery system, the project will provide an initial step toward a microgrid. The battery system will be on a feeder that serves critical facilities such as an emergency response command center and hospital. The system will help address transmission line outages and help facilitate future renewables onto the system,” DOE said.
“Platte River is pursuing battery storage in all four owner communities to enhance the reliability of our system and to continue working toward our Resource Diversification Policy,” said Paul Davis, director of distributed energy resources for Platte River Power Authority. “Estes Park is an ideal candidate for localized battery storage due to their unique geography and limited transmission connections.”
“This DOE grant is a game-changer for Estes Park and our surrounding communities,” said Reuben Bergsten, director of utilities for the Town of Estes Park and Platte River board member.
“This storage project enables our Power and Communications team and Platte River to provide reliable electricity to our homes and businesses and helps pave the way for a cleaner, more resilient energy future powered by noncarbon resources,” he said.
PRPA worked with DOE’s Grid Deployment Office to produce a video on this project.
The GDO is doing a series of videos to highlight the projects of recipients and how these funds will be used.
The PRPA/Estes Park project was selected to be the first video in the GDO series.
The link to the video is available here.
