Huawei’s Global Virtual Summit showcases booming BESS market and Huawei’s new FusionSolar solution for large PV + Energy Storage projects

Titled “Renewable Powered Future, 2021 Huawei FusionSolar Smart PV & Large Scale Energy Storage Global Virtual Summit”, the virtual event provided a very useful forum to discuss the latest developments in energy storage, as well as a comprehensive overview of Huawei’s latest solution. The event was moderated by Eckhart Gouras, the publisher of pv magazine.

Mr. Chen Guogang, President of Huawei Smart PV, opened the summit by highlighting the importance of energy storage and the shift Huawei’s latest solution is making possible. With Huawei’s “Smart PV Generator” technology at the heart of the new solution PV power plants are able to support the power grid, making PV a much more stable source of power.

The intelligent integration of battery storage is just one of the reasons the FusionSolar All-Scenario PV & Storage Solution is able to greatly improve the performance of the power plant within the grid. As Chen makes clear, the new solution “integrates our smart string energy storage solution and is compatible with AC and DC coupling, and uses intelligent PV + storage collaborative control algorithms to realize synchronous characteristics to improve grid stability.”

What is the benefit in terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE)? Chen points to the world’s first “Gemini” +-1500 V design, which in his words “can help to support larger sub-arrays, higher voltages, thus [this design] could reduce LCOE by 7% and even enhance the grid, redefine the PV plant standards and can also adapt to large-scale wind + solar + storage projects as well.”

In fact, “All-Scenario” shows the broad range of applications that Huawei’s new solution covers: from large wind + solar + storage plants to just PV, PV + storage, micro-grid and even stand-alone storage as highlighted by Hariram Subramanian, CTO of Smart PV in Europe at Huawei.

Just as bifacial modules have become commonplace in utility-scale PV power plants, so battery energy storage systems (BESS) are poised to gain significant market share. In his presentation at the July 22 Virtual Summit, Sam Wilkinson, Director, Clean Energy Technology, at IHS Markit shared his outlook for the large-scale BESS market with the global audience. According to Wilkinson, 2021 will be a historic year for battery storage deployments, since this year’s installations should for the first time surpass the 10 GW mark. That would be more than double last year’s figure.

A closer look at these deployments and the forecast until 2030 reveals that front-of-the-meter (FTM) applications will rise the most, far outpacing behind-the-meter C & I and residential deployments. Within the FTM category, three main business cases have arisen, including short duration storage (<1 hour), 2-4 hour medium duration storage, and long duration storage for intraday or seasonal power supply. The increasing attractiveness of BESS has also prompted more governments to issue tenders in this sector, mostly in combination with solar PV projects.

Felipe Hernandez, Managing Director of FRV X & Engineering, provided more details on business opportunities in both the stand-alone BESS segment and hybrid PV + storage solutions. Hernandez sees plenty of opportunity in both segments and revealed the various layers in the value stacks of both approaches. Madrid-based FRV is active in the utility-scale power plant market, both as a developer and Independent Power Producer (IPP). Another speaker to provide insights into the PV + storage market was Jorge de Miguel from Vector Renewables, a Spanish renewable energy asset management company and consultancy. De Miguel pointed to the wide range of services BESS can provide to an existing PV power plant, providing for a diversified and future-proof set of revenue streams.