Energa Invests in Innovation: A New 27 MWh Energy Storage System to Be Built
Construction works have begun on Poland’s largest electricity storage system with target rated power of 6 MW and energy storage capacity of 27MWh The hybrid storage system is a co-project of Energa Group, Hitachi and Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne. The project is located in the vicinity of Bystra Wind Farm near Pruszcz Gdański.
In Bystra near Pruszcz Gdański, which is the location of a wind farm operated by Energa Wytwarzanie, a site was delivered to the general contractor for the construction of Poland’s largest electricity storage system. Energa’s investment is the result of cooperation with a Japanese government organization NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) which finances Japanese technologies. The Polish-Japanese undertaking is a part of the Smart Grid Demonstration Project in Poland, coordinated by Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne. According to the timetable, the system will be commissioned in the second half of 2019.
Focus on RES Development
Energa Group invests in new energy technologies. The ongoing implementation of the energy storage technology in Poland is a part of a strategy put in place to strengthen the country’s energy security, and of activities designed to ensure conditions optimizing the electricity production from renewable energy sources (RES). As a pilot project, its role is to test solutions protecting the transmission grid and high-voltage distribution grids against overloading, and to test in practice how useful such technologies may be in balancing energy production shortage or surplus.
The project is the result of cooperation with experienced partners and global innovation leaders. In 2017, an agreement was signed between Energa Group (two of its companies: Energa Wytwarzanie and Energa Operator), Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne and Hitachi (Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) for the implementation of the Smart Grid Demonstration Project in Poland. It is a smart grid management system which improves the reliability of electricity supply. The facility in Bystra will be Poland’s first hybrid battery storage system for grid energy. The project is a component of a prototypical system optimizing the safety of operation of electricity grids (also by optimizing the management of wind energy generation). The installation of an automatic system known as the Special Protection Scheme (SPS) is geared towards this purpose.
This is the country’s first large and modern investment project of this kind. Energy Group has had certain experience with regard to innovative energy storage solutions. In 2016, Energa Operator built a storage system near Puck with 0.75 MW power and 1.5 MWh capacity. The capacity of the new hybrid system in Bystra will be 18 times larger.
An Innovative All-Weather Storage System
In October 2018, Energa Wytwarzanie received the construction permit for a 1200 m2 storage building. In November, the contract was signed with the general contractor selected on the basis of a tender procedure – Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlane PBI Niewczas, Patoka s.j.
The completion of the storage building is scheduled in the Q2 2019. The hybrid storage system will consist of two units of lithium-ion and acid-lead batteries. The system’s target rated power is 6MW, and its target energy storage capacity is 27 MWh. After the necessary equipment has been installed, the efficiency of the energy storage system and the SPS will be tested for a year in order to improve the safety of operation of the electricity grid. The investment project will be evaluated for aspects such as efficiency and scalability of energy storage.
“The construction of a hybrid battery storage system in Bystra is instrumental in solving problems related to the specific nature of RES electricity production. It will help us overcome the major problem of renewable energy sources, which is the overcapacity or shortage of energy during periods of adverse weather,” says Piotr Meler, President of the Management Board of Energa Wytwarzanie SA. “In order to increase the share of RES electricity production and scale it to the actual needs of the economy, it is imperative that modern energy storage systems are developed with the capacity to hold or release surplus energy into the grid as necessary.”
The SPS and the energy storage system are implemented as a joint project by Polish and Japanese partners. The following institutions and companies participate in the Project:
- The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Poland
- New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO – an R&D agency of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
- Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne SA
- Hitachi (Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.)
- ENERGA Group (Energa Operator SA, Energa Wytwarzanie SA)
The storage system on Oshima Island. A similar facility will be built near Energa’s wind farm in Bystra.
Energa Wytwarzanie SA, as the leader of the Generation Business Line of Energa Group, coordinates the Group’s activities related to RES energy production, electricity and heat production from conventional sources, including cogeneration, provision of system services, heat transmission and distribution. Water, wind, biomass, solar radiation and coal are all used to produce electricity. The companies of the Generation Business Line operate 47 hydroelectric power stations, five wind farms, two solar parks, one conventional power station (in Ostrołęka), four CHP plants and two heating plants.