SN Aboitiz rolls out $28-M battery storage venture
By Myrna M. Velasco – Updated December 24, 2018, 11:20 AM
from Manila Bulletin
SN Aboitiz Power, Inc. (SNAP) will shell out US$28 million worth of investment for a planned 20-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) at its Magat hydropower plant in Isabela province.
The company emphasized that the battery storage will be scheduled for deployment by year 2020.
Once concretized, SNAP noted that this will boost the firm’s offer of ancillary services and standby power in case there shall be a supply deficiency in the system. The company said its board of directors had given the go-signal to conduct the feasibility study that shall be consummated next year.
As cast on blueprint, the installation of the battery storage shall be in 2020 – and the commercial commissioning will be two years after – or by year 2022.
On its plan to enter into ancillary services procurement agreement (ASPA), the company said this will be negotiated with system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
As reckoned by SNAP Group President and CEO Joseph Yu, the battery energy storage system could be likened to a giant power bank – and this is the next flourishing innovation in the energy world.
He qualified that with BESS, “we will have a battery facility that is connected to the grid where we can withdraw power from when necessary.”
On the regulatory front, battery storage has been classified by the Energy Regulatory Commission “as a new source of frequency control ancillary services.”
In a power system, ancillary services are necessary to sustain reliability in providing service to load customers; and power interruptions could also be resolved with the “black start component” of ancillary services.
“These services are indispensable in ensuring the reliability of transmission systems, and in securing electricity supply in the country’s power grids,” the firm said. (MMV)
