Fort Carson takes step toward being energy independent, breaks ground on innovative project

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- Fort Carson is taking another step toward being energy independent. On Thursday morning, they broke ground on a new large-flow battery system.

Fort Carson is partnering with Lockheed Martin to test out what is called Grid Star Flow. It will allow the base to continue operating in extreme conditions like a natural disaster or unconventional attack.

"We’re bringing the army one step closer to achieving grid resiliency and powering through long-term power outages that threaten critical missions. That is groundbreaking in more than one sense," said Steve Botwinik with Lockheed Martin.

Once up and running, it will be able to power the post for 10 hours. It will also run at an extremely low level of energy, equivalent to about 400 nearby homes.

"We are in a contested homeland. We are worried about the electric grid going down, not for days or hours, but for weeks or months. We still need to be able to operate without the grid powering our installation," said Paul Farnan the principal deputy assistant of the army.

The battery can be powered from multiple electrical sources whether that be with the grid or solar panels.

Not only will the system allow the base to continue its mission, but the new technology will also help the surrounding communities to allow something called "peak shaving."

"So when electricity is really expensive in the hottest days of the summer, when electricity costs 10 times its normal rate, we’ll be able to use, discharge this battery and another battery system that we have as well to expend some of the energy that we’ve saved," said Col. Sean Brown, the Garrison Commander at Fort Carson.

Fort Carson says it wants to be energy independent by 2030.

Lockheed Martin will start building Grid Star Flow in January and says it should be done by the start of 2024. They'll test the program for two years.