STORAGE

BHEL Tenders for Commissioning of BESS for TERI at 3 Sites in Delhi

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has issued a tender, inviting bids from eligible firms for setting up of 410 kWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) at 3 sites in Delhi. The scope of work for the selected bidders will include the survey, planning, design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, insurance, supply, installation and commissioning of the BESS projects along with comprehensive maintenance under an AMC on turnkey basis. The bidders will be totally responsible for the desired performance of the offered BESS systems. Under the UI-ASSIST initiative, TERI in-association with BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd) conducted a detailed feasibility study within the BRPL licensee area in the NCT of Delhi and has identified few selected locations to demonstrate operational use cases of grid-scale BESS on pilot-basis.

The details of BESS application(s) and size for specified locations are: 1.Category-A: 990-kVA DT in Taimoor Nagar, New Friends Colony – BESS will be used to manage the overload of a Distribution

Transformer (DT) serving mainly residential consumers. BESS to be installed on the LT side of DT will be charged when the loading of DT is lower than a particular threshold level and discharged when loading exceeds the defined threshold level. 2.Category-B: Dwarka (Ispatika Apartments) – Herein, the proposed application of BESS is to supply the back-up power to common/ critical loads (loads such as lift, water pump and GE Renewable Energy and Walcha Energy have signed an agreement to jointly develop the 500 MW Dungowan pumped hydro storage project in the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Under the agreement, GE Renewable Energy’s Hydro Solutions business will provide Walcha Energy with technical and commercial support to accelerate the development of the Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant which plays a pivotal role in the energy transition for New South Wales and Australia. “The Dungowan Pumped Hydro Storage Power Plant will help facilitate new wind and solar projects and provide firming and grid support services at a critical point on the Australian National Electricity Market. The project represents a unique opportunity to tap into a high-head site, in close proximity to an existing reservoir. It is strategically located between retiring coal capacity to the south and emerging wind and solar capacity to the east, west and north,” said Simon Currie, Managing Director at Energy Estate, one of the partners in Walcha Energy. Overall, the Walcha Energy Project has the potential to produce more than 4 GW of stable electricity from renewable sources. The Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant is intended to anchor the broader development and ensure that the additional

lighting load) of gated group housing society during power outages. The system will be charged from grid power and also from existing rooftop solar PV installed as and when available.

Additionally, there should be a provision to charge the BESS from

DG power, DG synchronisation if required. 3.Category-C: TERI-School of Advanced Studies (SAS) is an institution with TOD tariff applicable for five months. In this case, BESS will be charged during off-peak hours and discharged during peak hours. This application aims to demonstrate BESS operations with a difference in prices during a day at a constant rate. During remaining times of the year, BESS operations may be used for research work within technical constraints of the battery

GE Joins 500 MW Pumped Hydro Storage Project in Australia

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wind and solar resources can be reliably and safely fed into the grid. The New England REZ is one of the largest renewable energy zones in Australia and has been designated as a strategic priority by the NSW Government. The Walcha Energy project has the potential to provide up to 15 percent of NSW’s power requirements. The Dungowan pumped hydro storage power plant would provide about 2 percent of that power, enough to supply roughly 125,000 households with electricity.

Tesla and PG&E Break Ground on 182.5 MW BESS System in California

Tesla and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have announced that construction work has begun on the 182.5-megawatt (MW) lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) at PG&E’s electric substation in Moss Landing in Monterey County, California. The system will be designed, constructed, and maintained by PG&E and Tesla, and will be owned and operated by PG&E. Construction is expected to continue into early next year. PG&E aims to have the system energised in early 2021 and fully operational in the second quarter of 2021. Once operational, the Moss Landing substation system will be one of the largest utilityowned, lithium-ion battery energy storage systems in the world. “Battery energy storage plays an integral role in enhancing overall electric grid efficiency and reliability, integrating renewable resources while reducing reliance on fossil fuel generation. It can serve as an alternative to more expensive, traditional wires solutions, resulting in lower overall costs for our customers,” said Fong Wan, senior vice president, Energy Policy and Procurement, PG&E. “The scale, purpose and flexibility of the Moss Landing

Megapack system make it a landmark in the development and deployment of utility-scale batteries.” PG&E forecasts the Moss Landing BESS will save more than USD 100 million over the 20-year life of the project when compared to the forecasted local capacity requirements and associated procurement costs that would have been necessary in absence of the BESS. The BESS was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in November 2018 and by the Monterey County Planning commission in February 2020.

Both Growth and Evolution Hand in Hand in Lithium Storage

A report by energy analyst firm Wood Mackenzie’s has predicted a fourfold rise in global lithium-ion cell manufacturing capacity to reach 1.3 terawatt-hour (TWh) in 2030 compared to 2019. The firm has based this estimate on 119 battery manufacturing facilities that are operational, under construction or announced by more than 50 vendors worldwide. The main component, lithium is a $5 billion specialty chemical industry with roughly 300,000 tons of lithium compounds produced and sold this year. Demand for lithium chemicals is projected to grow to as much as 1 million tons by 2025 – primarily driven by lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles. China dominates this market like few others, be it lithium itself or the batteries. Of course, besides lithium itself, other components like cobalt and nickel, used in the batteries, are also very problematic, in terms of sourcing and processing them, in terms of its environmental impact. The ‘traditional’ leaders, mostly Asian manufacturers like – CATL, LG Chem, BYD, SK Innovation are are predicted to lead to 2030 too, followed by the emergence of a

strong European cohort led by Northvolt and ACC (JV established by Saft and PSA Group). China of course dominates the pipeline capacity and is expected to double its capacity from 345 gigawatt-hour (GWh) in 2020 to more than 800 GWh by 2030. Other foreign manufacturers in China such as LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation have also been adding new lines after they became eligible for subsidies from the Chinese government in 2019. Stakeholders in the sector like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have gone on record saying that “Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,”. Now Wood Mackenzie has predicted lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) will overtake lithium-manganese-cobalt-oxide (NMC) as the dominant stationary energy storage chemistry. That means at least one problematic material, cobalt, could see reduced demand, as the new LFP battery doesn’t need it. From 10% of the stationary storage market in 2015, LFP batteries could go to 30% of the market in 2030, says Wood Mackenzie. The push for an alternative to NMC batteries has been there ever since a shortage threatened the market in 2018. The volatility in process, and high dependence on China, has pushed a search for more options. With both mobility and storage sharing the same battery chemistry, the rise for storage capacity also impacted demand, and prices. LFP batteries are particularly attractive for mobility based solutions, as they have shown themselves to be out performers on extended cycle times, or long duration storage. Here too, the Chinese have taken the lead, which will ensure faster spread globally now.