SMC Global Power Holding Corp., the energy investment arm of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has partnered with Swedish-Swiss multinational firm ABB on its planned rollout of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in various sites in the country.
In a statement to the media, ABB noted that it won a multi-million dollar contract for it to install 20-megawatt BESS facilities in at least two project sites of San Miguel this 2021; and additional sites by next year.
“ABB will support two 20MW sites which will be installed by June 2021, with a further 40MW site in July 2021.The remaining sites will be completed in 2022,” the European firm said.
There was no specific figure given on the contract bagged by ABB, but SMC Global previously apprised media that it will be investing up to US$1.0 billion for 31 BESS projects all over the country.
ABB’s project with San Miguel will use the European company’s proprietary software platform ABB Ability™ Zenon, “to act as the intuitive interface to BESS,” which will then allow users “to make real-time decisions based on grid parameters to ensure performance sustainability.”
The firm similarly emphasized that “to satisfy the complicated needs of the scheme and ensure easy and quick installation, ABB developed a complete solution that uses standardized building blocks that are scalable and modular,” and such will include integrated combination of energy storage modules and power distribution.
Alessandro Palin, president of ABB’s Distribution Solutions Division, indicated that “pioneering solutions, like the one in the Philippines, will ensure that grids are more stable and will satisfy the reliability challenges associated with moving to a stronger mix of renewables.”
Palin added “battery energy storage systems are transforming the market, driving wider adoption of renewable energy solutions, and helping to improve grid performance across the globe.”
ABB conveyed that its projects with San Miguel “will support the Philippines’ ambitious plans to build a more sustainable future for its communities, by decarbonizing energy generation and ensuring that 54-percent of its energy mix comes from renewables by 2040.”
The addition of more than 40,000 megawatts of RE installations in the country’s power mix had been integrated in the ‘low carbon scenario’ that the Philippines will be targeting in the next two decades.
On the deployment of battery storage technologies, the European firm expounded that it has “provided a packaged BESS solution to strengthen the reliability and stability of the local grid in Luzon, and the island of Visayas.”
The company pointed out these two main islands of the country “will benefit from BESS as part of the government’s Build, Build, Build program,” that will then usher in the State-envisioned “golden age of infrastructure to boost industry and tourism.”
ABB reiterated that the BESS solution “is designed to avoid large frequency deviations which can result in costly equipment damage and disruptive system failure.” ###