The value that BESS can provide to the power grid is well established. BESS facilities sited independently provide frequency regulation, demand response, and other ancillary services that are key to keeping the electricity network running smoothly as the traditional forms of base load power (coal, nuclear) are decommissioned and increasingly replaced with variable power production via solar and wind energy systems. Wind and solar power project developers are also looking to mitigate the variability of power production at the individual site level by co-locating wind and solar power stations with batteries at the point of interconnection. Such hybrid wind-BESS or solar-BESS projects can improve project economics and make securing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) easier in areas where intermittent renewable energy production is highly concentrated. However, there is some trepidation as technological innovation increases risk of mechanical and electrical breakdown. The risk is acute with this technology due to the unique chemistry of current battery systems, Lithium Ion being the most prevalent currently, and the potential of catastrophic loss due to thermal runaway. Mechanical and electrical breakdown can hamper individual project profitability, and any evidence of serial defects within the technology could test the insurability, and therefore the bankability, of the asset class. Falling battery prices and the growth of variable electricity generation is fuelling an interest in the development of BESS.
#BQC# #18 years in PCBA assembly# #BESS#
