Raytheon unit eyes grant to study energy storage

TEWKSBURY, Mass. – Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems has applied for a grant to study ways to store energy generated from an eight-turbine wind farm off Block Island proposed by Deepwater Wind.
Raytheon spokesman Nicholas Garrison last week confirmed the company is asking for money from the R.I. Economic Development Corporation for a feasibility study. He would not say how much money the Raytheon Company business unit, which has offices in Portsmouth, is seeking.
The study would explore how to store excess energy produced by the wind farm and not needed by the island’s electric grid or unable to be delivered to the mainland grid.
The application recently won the endorsement of the island’s Electric Utility Task Group. The town has been mulling the installation of a turbine at its transfer station.
Storing the energy for use later would be far more economical than dumping it, said task-group member Barbara MacMullan. &#8226