(Bloomberg) — Duke Energy Corp., the largest U.S. utility

owner by market value, agreed to build a battery-based energy-storage system at a shuttered coal plant in Ohio with LG Chem

Ltd. and Greensmith Energy Management Systems LLC.

The 2-megawatt project can deliver power in seconds and

will “enhance reliability and increase stability” on the grid,

the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said Tuesday in a

statement. LG Chem will provide the operating system and

batteries, while Greensmith will supply software and grid-integration services. Terms were not disclosed.

The project, which will be built at the site of Duke’s

retired W.C. Beckjord coal plant in New Richmond, is expected to

open later this year and will complement a separate 2-megawatt

storage system already in place. PJM Interconnection LLC, which

runs the biggest U.S. power market, will use the batteries to

help manage the electricity grid. Duke said it owns about 15

percent of the nation’s battery-backed, grid-connected storage

capacity.

The systems “can instantaneously absorb excess energy from

the grid or release energy,” Phil Grigsby, Duke’s vice

president of commercial transmission, said in the statement.

“Delivering that power in seconds, as opposed to a power plant

that could take 10 minutes or more to ramp up, is the unique

value the battery system provides.”

To contact the reporter on this story:

Justin Doom in New York at

jdoom1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Reed Landberg at

landberg@bloomberg.net

Jim Efstathiou Jr., Will Wade