Eskom launches largest battery storage mission in Africa

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JIMMY MOYAHA: We’re having a look at Eskom. It has launched a brand new mission which is claimed to be the biggest battery storage mission in Africa. I’m joined on the road by the overall supervisor of operations enablement at Eskom, Velaphi Ntuli, to check out this. Mr Ntuli, thanks a lot for taking the time.

The mission has been named the Eskom Battery Power Storage System, or Bess, because it’s affectionately recognized. Are you able to inform us about Bess, the way it works, what the considering there’s, and the way far you guys are on the mission?

VELAPHI NTULI: Good night, Jimmy, to you and your listeners. Thanks for having us in your present. Sure, at the moment marked our unveiling the profitable commissioning of our first battery vitality storage system. This was achieved on the Hex substation, which is simply exterior Worcester within the Western Cape.

This explicit website is a 20-megawatt website that we commissioned at the moment, and [was] imagined to have been handed over.

So the 20-megawatt website principally can be sufficient to energy a small city like Mossel Bay.

Simply to provide some background on the Eskom battery vitality storage system, we embarked some time again on analysing our community and substations – there have been substations the place we realised that this expertise will assist us so much, and it’ll show among the essential funding that we have to make to strengthen our networks.

So beneath Section 1, we have now eight websites that we’re engaged on to place [in] the battery vitality storage programs. In essence you’d cost these batteries, and through peak-hour time you’ll then discharge them to the grid to offer grid help, and in addition to assist with what we name nationwide vitality saving. So in essence that is what we’re utilizing the storage system for.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Velaphi, how does the system combine inside the present Eskom framework? I ask this as a result of we have now been instructed that issues like impartial energy producers and different vitality technology sources have an issue plugging into the transmission community of Eskom. Is that this the case with Bess, or is that this one thing that you simply guys have been in a position to work round?

VELAPHI NTULI: Bess really makes among the challenges that we have now a bit simpler to handle. Presently, we have now a constrained community, and what it means is that when everyone seems to be producing it turns into tough to then discharge and transport that vitality proper by our transmission line.

So when you have battery vitality storage, you may then retailer that vitality and when it’s required you may discharge it to the grid.

But in addition the opposite factor that this helps with [is], if you happen to have been to couple it with a wind farm, for example, you’d discover that in some circumstances wind blows at 3am within the morning, and you understand that at that time the vitality demand on the grid may be very low. So as a substitute of losing that vitality, you may then pump it into the battery storage system, and when it’s required in the course of the day and you might be in need of technology capability, then you’ll be able to discharge that vitality to the grid.

So it principally enhances and helps us in coping with load shedding, but in addition the problems that we’re having with grid capability.

It additionally offers another for impartial energy producers in the event that they need to undertake this expertise.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Velaphi, let’s have a look at the sustainability of this initiative. This was a partnership with Hyosung Heavy Industries to develop this technique and this expertise. Going ahead is that this one thing that may be simply replicated as you go into Phases 2, 3 and 4? And in that case, what is that this going to price us to implement?

VELAPHI NTULI: Sure, we’ve had a really profitable partnership with Hyosung, and with Hyosung we even have three websites [where] we’re doing this, or we’re rolling out this battery vitality storage system, as I stated, [at the] Hex website within the Western Cape.

Then we have now two websites in KwaZulu-Natal. One website is in Pongola, and the opposite website is at Elandskop, which is simply exterior Pietermaritzburg.

The mannequin that we adopted as Eskom was the EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] mannequin, which is principally you get a provider that does your engineering or procurement, and so they additionally do your development. This mannequin has proved to be efficient for us on all three websites.

Sure, with any contract there are challenges that you simply face, however we’ve been in a position to handle these challenges and take care of them. It’s a mannequin that we adopted and a mannequin that may be replicated within the trade – and it’s efficient. You simply must have the appropriate associate that you’re working with if you embark on this.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Does this imply that Eskom goes to have interaction extra private-public partnerships with a purpose to get this achieved at scale?

VELAPHI NTULI: For such initiatives you do must exit into the market and get a profitable provider that may aid you in creating this. So at the moment we’re doing the eight websites beneath Section 1. Six of these websites are at the moment in development; the three highest photo voltaic websites are effectively superior in development. We’re moving into commissioning and finalising commissioning, like in Hex.

There are three different websites that are simply starting commissioning, however these are with one other contractor. And we have now two websites [where] which we’re at the moment doing the evaluation. So we’re in [the] tendering course of. We’re principally doing the evaluation and shortly we should always be capable of announce the successful bid, if any come out of that evaluation.

So sure, for Section 1 we’re in embarking and we goal to have all eight websites that we’ve recognized with battery vitality storage programs put in.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Properly, we want you all the most effective of luck. We hope that we are able to see some constructive outcomes when it comes to ending the load shedding downside that we’ve been having to take care of. Thanks a lot, Velaphi.

That’s Velaphi Ntuli, who’s the overall supervisor for operations enablement at Eskom, giving us an concept of Eskom’s newest mission, Bess – the battery vitality storage system unveiled at the moment.