Powin battery storage system to power titanium production in West Virginia

Oregon-based Powin will provide a 50 MW Centipede Stack800 battery storage system as part of a solar-plus-storage microgrid which will power the manufacture of titanium for use in the aerospace industry.

The energy storage business says the 10-12 hour duration lithium iron phosphate system it will supply is its first to meet the domestic-content requirements of the IRA. That means the microgrid should offer tax benefits for manufacturer Titanium Metals Corp, a subsidiary of Precision Castparts Corp.

Powin announced the battery energy storage system, which will be collocated with 106 MW of solar generation capacity in a new industrial hub in Ravenswood, West Virginia, is part of a project which will be developed in phases. Electricity supply is slated to start in 2025 with full capacity operational in 2027.

Developer BHE Renewables, which is constructing the solar-plus-storage microgrid, and Titanium Metals are both owned by US conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.

Powin and BHE Renewables previously worked on the two 24 MW-plus-23 MW/92 MWh Solar 3 and Solar 4 photovoltaic-plus-storage projects in Kern County, California.