Beacon Power (NASDAQ: BCON) got a 12% pop in its share price today on news that it's signed a contract for the design of a first 20-megawatt grid frequency regulation plant based on the company's flywheel technology.

The design and engineering work, which is part of a $752,000 contract awarded to Beacon by the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2006 (administered by Sandia National Laboratories) is scheduled for completion in September 2007.

The company will work with Carter & Burgess, an award-winning international architectural and engineering firm.

Beacon Power’s patented flywheel energy storage systems are designed to provide an alternative to conventional fossil-fuel plants for frequency regulation—the maintenance of the frequency of alternating current in the face of grid supply and demand mismatches.

As part of the project, Carter & Burgess will provide estimating, value engineering and scheduling services to optimize the cost-effectiveness of the plant.

Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO, said the company is "on a mission to build multiple flywheel-based frequency regulation plants around the country."

Beacon’s Smart Energy Matrix, now in development following successful conclusion of scale-power demonstrations in two states, is a prototype for a non-polluting, megawatt-level, utility-grade flywheel-based solution that would provide sustainable frequency regulation services.

Read more about the company in Cleantech.com's Beacon Power flywheels get good spin.