Kokam installs 40 MWh storage in South Korea

The storage system company, in which Solaredge recently acquired a majority share, has said it will commission two large storage systems in South Korea before the end of the year. The market looks somewhat promising according to recent government initiatives, like the ‘Renewable Energy 3020’ plan and a 3 GW solar park on reclaimed land.

Chungchoeng 5 MW / 12 MWh Kokam ESS integrated with PV system.

Image: Kokam

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Battery storage system provider Kokam Co. Ltd has won two bids for the installation of a 40 MWh PV-connected battery storage system in South Korea. According to the company, the capacity will be divided into two separate projects.

One part of the project, a 12 MWh battery storage system, will be connected to three different PV plants in South Korea’s Chungchoeng region together with the project’s EPC developer Razzler.

For this, Kokam will deliver a 5 MW/ 12 MWh storage system based on High Energy Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (HE NMC) technology, to allow for time shifting of the cumulative 5 MW capacity of the three solar plants.

The second part of the project – 8 MW/ 28MWh – will connect to nine sites totaling 10 MW of PV capacity.

Both systems are scheduled to be operational before the end of 2018.

Ike Hong, vice president of Kokam's Power Solutions Division highlighted that the systems will utilize the company’s new high-energy 100 Ah HE NMC cell, which he says provides more safety while allowing for high-energy storage.

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By the company’s account, the new battery cells use a new “active material” in the anode and a modified electrolyte. This has boosted the cells' energy density by 26%, to reach 204.4-watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) while maintaining the battery’s life expectancy.

Reportedly, South Korea is incentivizing the wide-spread installation of energy storage systems. To this end, the government is granting a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) weight of 5.0 to electricity that is distributed into the grid from storage systems during off-peak times (10:00 am to 4:00 pm)

South Korea’s renewable energy market could be in for a substantial expansion if the latest government announcements are to be realized. The country aims to generate 20% of its power from renewables by 2030. To this end, the country is working on installing 30.8 GW of solar PV by that date. Giving a speech at an economic summit in Saemangeum, at the beginning of November, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced a watershed moment for the nation’s renewable energy policy.

Moon said he wants to turn the 409km2 of reclaimed land at Saemangeum into the country’s renewable energy hub. Herein, the government plans to funnel 10 trillion Korean won ($8.8 billion) into the development of a “mega-scale” solar and wind complex with a 4 GW generation capacity. The plan includes a 3 GW solar park, which would be the world’s largest. He added that the solar PV site should be commissioned by 2022.

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