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They say everything’s bigger in Texas. Apparently that’s true for batteries, too. Presidio, Texas ^[5], recently built a giant sodium sulfur battery ^[6] that’s powerful enough to provide energy for the entire town. Not only will the battery serve as a back-up source of power, other utilities can use similar batteries to store energy generated by renewables.

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BOB, short for “Big-Old Battery,” ^[6] began charging up this week. The giant sodium sulfur powerhouse, which is literally the size of a house, can store four megawatts of power for up to eight hours. Before BOB came online, a single, 60-year-old transmission line was the only thing connecting Presidio to the grid. The town frequently experienced power outages. BOB serves as a much-needed back-up plan, and it holds enough power to generate electricity for the whole town.

BOB is the first sodium sulfur battery ^[6] in Texas and the biggest one in existence in the US. Electric Transmission Texas ^[8]ponied up $25 million to build the battery, and will add $60 million to build a second transmission line by 2012.

Batteries like BOB ^[6] are useful for towns like Presidio, but they can also be used by utilities themselves. In America’s archaic grid system, electricity generation and usage must occur simultaneously, a huge problem for renewables like wind and solar, which generate power sporadically. Bringing on giant batteries to store power can ensure more renewables are brought online before a smart grid ^[9] can be put in place.

Via Popular Science ^[6]