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Voltalia Wins a Mixed Photovoltaic and Battery Storage Power Plant in French Guiana
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oltalia is the sole winner of the fifth period of the CRE 4 tender for non-interconnected areas for ground-based solar power plants in French Guiana. The project, called “Parc Sable Blanc”, combines a five-megawatt photovoltaic power plant with a lithium-ion battery storage facility with a capacity of 5 megawatts and of 9.3 megawatt-hours. Located in the commune of Mana, in the heart of the very dynamic Western Guiana, close to the ocean coast and the border with Suriname, “Parc Sable Blanc” was designed to produce during the day thanks to excellent sunshine and inject its production on the Guyanese electrical grid during the peak from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. after sunset. Fully developed by Voltalia, the “Parc Sable Blanc” project will also be built and operated by its teams. It will benefit from a guaranteed selling tariff for 20 years. Once commissioned in 2023, “Parc Sable Blanc” will increase the power of the Toco complex to 19.3 megawatts with a capacity of 25.6 megawatt-hours. Voltalia currently operates solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage power plants in French Guiana with a combined capacity of 31 megawatts, allowing the coverage of nearly 10% of the main electricity grid consumption. Sébastien Clerc, CEO, concludes: “We are very proud to have won this new project which once again strengthens our presence on the territory that saw the birth of Voltalia 16 years ago. “Parc Sable Blanc” will produce green electricity at a more competitive cost than thermal electricity.”
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Renew Power In Collaboration With Stanford’s Storage X
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eNew Power, one of India’s leaders in renewable energy, is collaborating with the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University and its StorageX Initiative. StorageX is an academic-industrygovernment initiative that aims to solve the most pressing real-world challenges in battery storage. ReNew’s collaboration with StorageX will focus initially on challenges surrounding grid level battery usage and performance in India, with an eye toward optimizing the performance of storage assets, and ultimately driving stable and firm power delivery to the grid. ReNew will participate in StorageX through the Stanford Energy Corporate Affiliate (SECA) program, which facilitates interactions between organizations and Stanford faculty and graduate students across the full range of energy-related topics. Through its membership in the SECA program, ReNew will have access to world-class research and opportunities for collaboration on research, education and training. It is relevant here that in January 2020,
ReNew bid on and won India’s first auction for renewable power generation combined with energy storage for guaranteed peak power supply capability. The 300 MW project was awarded by the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Additionally, ReNew has also won a tender to provide 400 MW of “Round-the-Clock” power, through renewable sources. This tender, held in May 2020, was India’s first to require “Round-theClock” reliable power generation from renewable sources. This project will use a combination of wind and solar renewable generation assets, along with storage technology, to provide annual capacity utilization of 80% - approximately double that of regular renewable energy generation projects. The ability to deliver reliable power from renewable sources at peak and off-peak hours is critical to power distribution companies’ plans to meet obligations for purchasing renewable power. That makes grid scale batteries a key part of the puzzle for solving the future energy needs of the country.
Battery Firm ESS to be Publicly Listed; Value Expected to Cross $1 Bn
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SS Tech, a manufacturer of longduration iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications, and ACON S2 Acquisition, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, have announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination that will result in ESS becoming a publicly listed company. Founded in 2011 with a mission to develop the cleanest, lowest-cost long-duration energy storage systems on the market, ESS developed an iron flow battery technology with innovative technological breakthroughs that is built to transform the utility grid by enabling safe, environmentally-friendly, long-duration storage. Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries that are made from hazardous and costly materials, ESS’ patent-protected battery solutions use abundant iron, salt
and water, making them environmentally safe and cost-effective energy storage systems. The business combination values the combined company at a USD 1.072 billion pro forma enterprise value. The transaction will provide approximately USD 465 million of pro forma net cash to the combined company, assuming no redemptions by ACON S2 shareholders. As part of the transaction, ACON S2 raised a USD 250 million fully committed PIPE from institutional investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, SB Energy Global Holdings Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BASF Venture Capital. Renewable energy deployment is increasing dramatically, with installation records set each year and now surpassing other forms of new generation coming online.
