A US renewable energy company has announced the completion of what it claims is North America’s “largest battery storage project” at one if its wind farms.

The 36MW energy storage and management system will store excess power from Duke Energy Renewables’ 153MW wind farm in west Texas and release it whenever demand for electricity is at its highest.

The announcement follows Duke Energy’s plans in 2009 to match a $22 million (£14m) grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to install large-scale batteries capable of storing electricity produced by the firm’s wind farm.

Greg Wolf, President of the company said: “Battery storage is an important innovation to address the variability of wind and solar energy generation. Developing an expertise in this advanced technology will enable us to expand the use of renewable energy, better integrate it into the power grid and become even more efficient at serving our customers.”

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will collect performance data from the battery storage system and help assess the potential for broader adoption of energy storage solutions throughout the industry.

Duke Energy Renewables’ portfolio of commercial renewable projects includes 15 wind farms and 13 solar farms in operation in nine US states, totalling more than 1,700MW in generation capacity.