Mitsubishi Corporation and AES to develop India’s First Grid-Scale Solar Energy Storage Array

AES and Mitsubishi Corporation to deliver India’s First Grid-scale Solar Energy Storage Array to Tata Power

AES India, a subsidiary of The AES Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation has announced a joint partnership agreement to deliver India’s first grid-scale energy storage array to the electric grid operated by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL).

AES and Mitsubishi Corporation will develop and own the 10 megawatt (MW) Advancion energy storage array, which will demonstrate peak load management, increase system flexibility and support high levels of reliability for more than 7 million customers in the region. This is the first grid-scale project in India, and part of a larger global trend to solve critical infrastructure challenges using battery-based energy storage.

“For a rooftop solar energy program to be successful, it is important for the distribution network to integrate it with energy storage solutions to take care of power generation spikes and fluctuations, system stability, reactive power compensation and grid emergencies. Tata Power-DDL has implemented many smart grid technologies and is privileged to implement India’s first utility-scale 10 MW storage solution with AES and Mitsubishi Corporation. This will prove to be an important learning for developing integrated rooftop solar and storage solutions for India,” said Mr. Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD, Tata Power-DDL.

India plans to install 160,000 MW of solar energy and wind generation over the next five years and energy storage will play a critical role in ensuring its integration into the grid.

“Rapidly growing generation capacity will need large scale deployment of energy storage for transmission decongestion, protecting processing plants from grid frequency and voltage drop triggered outages,” said Rajendra Shrivastav, President of AES India. “We expect electricity regulators in India will understand and appreciate the value of ancillary services these storage systems bring into the system operation.”

With this 10 MW Advancion array, Tata Power-DDL will benefit from the platform’s fourth-generation design and AES’ experience gained from more than 3.5 million megawatt-hours of delivered service across the global fleet of deployments.

“By choosing energy storage over other alternatives, Tata Power-DDL is taking smart steps to modernize their power system, improve grid efficiency and provide better integration of distributed and renewable resources,” said Manish Kumar, Managing Director of AES Energy Storage. “Their pioneering work will pave the way for the rapid deployment of energy storage throughout the country.”

The Advancion energy storage array will be constructed in Rohini, Delhi at a site operated by Tata Power-DDL. The array will provide peak load management, grid stability, and renewable integration services in the region when operational by the end of 2017. Advancion is the world’s most proven energy storage platform, with 166 MW in operation and 270 MW in construction or late stage development across seven countries, four continents, and eight different power markets.

AES and Mitsubishi Corporation continue to work closely together to accelerate the adoption of energy storage. Additionally, AES and Mitsubishi Corporation signed an Alliance agreement in February 2016, combining the capabilities of both companies to ensure Advancion is available for sale to customers in markets across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

“Together with AES, Mitsubishi Corporation aims to tackle power system infrastructure problems around the world by leveraging both our global network and AES’ advanced technology,” said Tsunehiro Makabe, General Manager of Environmental Energy Business Dept. at Mitsubishi Corporation.

“Working with Mitsubishi Corporation to deliver this important project for India’s power system further strengthens our alliance relationship and helps Tata Power-DDL move the Delhi region towards a clean, unbreakable power grid,” closed Manish Kumar, Managing Director of AES Energy Storage.

Source: BusinessWire