MAINE MONITOR • January 7, 2024
Construction is set to begin this spring in Gorham on one of New England’s largest battery storage projects, a preview of similar ventures that are seen as a missing link for optimizing the region’s growing fleet of solar and wind power plants. Big batteries are considered essential to realizing Maine’s climate goals. Solar and wind are intermittent sources of power. When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, other sources are needed to make up shortfalls and to balance supply and demand. Today, those holes are largely filled by ramping up natural gas-fired plants. To replace them, the region will need a robust network of electric sponges to soak up renewable energy when it’s available, then discharge it when and where it’s needed.