Hangzhou to test battery system for wind-energy storage

An energy company in China is installing a large battery system at its plant in Hangzhou to test how advanced energy storage can help deal with the challenges posed by the country’s rapid wind-energy growth.

The 500-kilowatt system from A123 Systems is set to be installed at Dongfang Electric Corporation’s (DEC) manufacturing facility in Zhejiang Province by the end of this year. DEC is the third largest manufacturer of wind turbines in China.

“The government has set ambitions goals to increase wind power in China to about 170GW (gigawatts) by 2020, and DEC looks forward to doing our part to help reach this target,” said Mr. He, general manager of Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co. “However, there will be infrastructure and interconnection challenges along the way that must be addressed. Advanced storage technology continues to show promise as a potential solution to the variability of wind energy generation, and installing this project with A123 will allow us to gain hands-on experience with grid-scale storage systems. Ultimately, we expect this to help us understand how we can leverage larger-scale energy storage deployments to facilitate the rapid adoption of wind energy across China.”

The installation will be A123’s first energy storage system in China, where only about 72 percent of the country’s total wind power generating capacity is connected to the power grid, according to data from the China Power Union. This is largely due to the unacceptable Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) capability—during periods of low grid voltage, wind farms are disconnecting and are slow to reconnect when voltage increases—and the general lack of ramp management technology, which results in the inability to predict the output of wind farms and leads to grid instability.

“We believe that China represents a significant market opportunity for our advanced energy storage technology, especially as a solution to addressing the LVRT and ramp-management problems standing in the way of the country’s aggressive plans for wind power deployment,” said Robert Johnson, vice president of the energy solutions group at A123.

A123’s advanced nanophosphate lithium-ion energy storage systems are designed to improve grid stability and facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources.