Electrical utility, Helen Ltd has ordered a 1.2 MW – 0.6MWh SCiB lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) from Landis+Gyr for installation next to its 340 kWp Suvilahti solar power plant Finlands largest located in Helsinkis Kalasatama District. The batteries are said to have over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles.
The BESS will comprise around 15,000 Li-ion batteries, which will temporarily store the energy generated from Helens two solar projects, the completed 340 kWp plant in Suvilahti and the 850 kWp plant, currently under construction in Kivikko.
Juha Karppinen, development manager, ESS, smart grids & e-mobility at Helen told pv magazine that it will "provide frequency regulation, reactive power compensation, peak shaving and renewable energy shifting."
The system is scheduled for assembly at the start of 2016, and is expected to be installed next March, with commissioning taking place in the spring. Karppinen said Toshiba was selected as the "SCiB technology provides much higher cycle life than other available Li-ion technologies, which allows us more flexibility in operating the BESS."
Around 2 million is being invested into the storage facility, 30% of which will be covered in the form of aid from Finlands Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Helen has partnered with Helen Sähköverkko and national transmission system operator, Fingrid to execute its plans.
The aim is to test the opportunities megawatt-scale electricity storage presents, such as new business models and flexible energy supply.
The pilot project will also help to develop future smart grids. "Its function is to balance the electricity supply. The benefits of this battery-operated electricity storage facility are its instant start-up and easy controls," wrote Helen in a statement issued.
Karppinen added that the Suvilahti BESS is Helens first pilot project in district-scale energy storages. "Future plans are dependent on the experiences we gain from this pilot," he said. "The projects greatest innovation is in the way the facility will be operated and controlled. We will study and test when it is worth charging and discharging the battery and who is prepared to pay for is at any given time and according to which logic."
Toshiba is strengthening its position in the European BESS landscape. Recently, it supplied systems to the University of Sheffield in the U.K. and to Terna Storage S.r.l. "As with those BESS, delivery and system integration of the system supplied to Helen will be carried out by Toshiba T&D Europe S.p.A., based in Genoa, Italy," said Toshiba in a seperate statement released.
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