Elevate Renewables, a battery storage development company, has announced that its Innovative Inertia Project at the Devon Generating Station in Milford, Connecticut, has been awarded $27.5 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Programme. The project aims to reconfigure an existing fossil-fueled peaking unit and deploy a battery energy storage system (BESS) to provide synchronous condensing and essential grid services.
The Innovative Inertia Project will demonstrate the ability of BESS to provide grid stability services like inertia and synchronous condensing—functions historically performed by fossil fuel plants. This integration is expected to enhance grid resilience and help Connecticut transition toward cleaner energy, delivering environmental benefits to historically overburdened communities by reducing emissions and promoting renewable energy adoption.
The project is a collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (CT PURA). Eric Cherniss, Head of Development at Elevate Renewables, emphasised the company’s commitment to balancing reliability and decarbonization through battery storage technology. “This project demonstrates how batteries can reduce reliance on fossil fuels while supporting existing power plant employees and benefiting local communities.”
