Rocky Mountain Power, the Utah-based subsidiary of Northwestern US electric power company Pacficorp, and Torus, a US energy storage firm, are working together to integrate Torus’s energy storage technology into Rocky Mountain’s Wattsmart Battery program.
Wattsmart is a proposed 70MW demand response program designed to support Utah’s Operation Gigawatt initiative. This aims to double Utah’s power production capacity over the next ten years to meet soaring demand, primarily from data centers.
"As Utah attracts more data centers, manufacturing facilities, and technology companies, reliable and affordable energy becomes even more critical. Our technology improves grid resilience and efficiency while supporting Utah's vision for energy abundance that will power the next generation of economic growth," said Nate Walkingshaw, CEO of Torus.
The partnership, formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two companies, will see Torus’s Nova Spin and Nova Pulse technologies deployed across multiple locations.
Nova Spin is an advanced Flywheel Energy Storage System offering rapid response capabilities for grid stability and backup power. Nova Pulse is a battery energy storage system specifically designed for long-duration energy storage and grid support. It is scalable and can be charged and discharged in four to eight hours.
Together they will support the creation of a virtual power plant (VPP) to aid the growth of Utah’s manufacturing and data center sectors while contributing to the Department of Energy's goal of deploying 80-160GW of VPPs nationwide by 2030.
According to the companies, the technology will greatly support the energy needs of the data center market, providing uninterruptible power supply functionality, long-duration backup, on-site generation integration with automated dispatching, real-time performance monitoring across millions of data points, and predictive maintenance through AI-driven systems analysis.
"Enhancing and expanding the Rocky Mountain Power system is the key to meeting Utah’s energy future,” said Dick Garlish, president of Rocky Mountain Power. “Collaborating with innovative leaders in technology and energy, like Torus, is essential to meet the goals of Operation Gigawatt.”
Implementation of the program could begin in early 2025, with deployment slated by the end of the year.
Utah is expected to see massive growth within its data center sector over the rest of the decade due to favorable tax incentives and affordable real estate. Much of this growth will be in Salt Lake City, where capacity is expected to grow 699 percent by 2030, with capacity expected to reach 1271MW, according to Upwind.
