Common sense isn't.
Dec. 9, 2003 - The RWE Group, the parent company of Regenesys Technologies Limited, has made a business decision to end further development of the flow-cell technology that was to be used at TVAs Regenesys Plant in Columbus, Mississippi. Without the availability of the flow-cell modules, it will not be feasible for TVA to complete the plant.
The Columbus plant was to be the first commercial-sized Regenesys energy-storage facility in the U.S. TVA suspended construction of its plant in May 2003 to incorporate lessons learned at the Regenesys plant under construction in the United Kingdom. Now, neither plant will be completed.
Though unproven, the Regenesys technology may be viable. It encountered a number of engineering difficulties during its scaling-up to commercial size. It's thought that these problems might be adequately addressed with sufficient time and investment of resources.
Although much of the construction has been completed at the Columbus site, none of the key electrochemical components from Regenesys had been installed. TVA will evaluate the site to determine if other technologies can be installed or if other uses for the facility can be found.
http://www.tva.gov/news/briefs.htm#cancel
Posted on Tue, Dec. 09, 2003
Company pulls plug on power storage plant in Lowndes County
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Miss. - Seven months after halting construction of a cutting edge, large-scale power storage plant here, Regenesys Technology Ltd. has pulled the plug on the $25 million Lowndes County project.
The company will no longer manufacture the technology needed to run the 12-megawatt plant that was being built off Mississippi 373 near Columbus Air Force Base.
Mark Kuntz, Regenesys' vice president of marketing and business development for U.S. operations, said German utility company RWE purchased its parent company, Innogy Technology Ventures Limited of Great Britain, and wishes to stop funding the technology.
"Upon review of overall strategy, the parent company decided that Regenesys Technology is not part of their core operation," Kuntz said.
The Columbus plant, which was to have been the first commercial-sized plant of its kind in the country, consists of two 550,000-gallon storage tanks and a 190-by-50-foot building. It was to have employed 10 people and would have operated around the clock.
The plant would have acted as a giant battery, storing up to 120 megawatt hours of energy to be used during times of high demand.
The location was chosen because of its proximity to the outer fringes of the Tennessee Valley Authority's transmission system and the air base's need for emergency power.
TVA spokesman Terry Johnson said without Regenesys' manufacture of the electrochemical units required to complete the plant, TVA will investigate other uses for the facility.
Johnson said there are other companies working on the flow-cell technology - which changes electrical energy to chemical energy and back - that would have powered the plant.
"We will evaluate the facility in Mississippi to determine if other technology could be installed or if there are other uses for the site and the facility," Johnson said.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/7451410.htm
Innogy pulls plug on Regenesys
Tuesday December 16, 2003
The Guardian
Innogy, the energy group, has abandoned its Regenesys electricity storage project after its German parent, RWE, decided against investing the money needed to commercialise the technology.
"The whole project has stopped. Following a European-wide review of core projects, the decision was taken not to commit further funding to the Regenesys electricity storage scheme," a spokesman said yesterday. "While ongoing testing has proven the technology, we will not be committing the capital expenditure needed to take it to market," he added.
Regenesys developed huge batteries to store electricity.
Innogy, one of the UK's largest utilities, is to concentrate on electricity generation, as well its power and gas retail businesses and renewables.
The company has invested £140m over the past 14 years in the scheme.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1107840,00.html
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Common sense isn't.
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