GNB Industrial Power will be unveiling its innovative Battery Energy Storage System, the latest addition to its renewable energy applications range, at this year's All-Energy Show taking place in Aberdeen from the 23rd and 24th May 2012.
The market for the storage and integration of renewable energy is set to grow, with total worldwide revenue for energy storage expected to reach $35 billion by 2020. With this in mind, GNB has taken up the challenge of developing an innovative and cost-effective storage system based on its lead acid technology.
"We began developing a scalable Battery Energy Storage System for on and off-grid applications in 2009," explains Nigel Darke, Managing Director of GNB Industrial Power. "Since then our Systems Development team, based at the Global Industrial Development Centre in Büdingen Germany, have been working hard to design and build a transportable prototype for use throughout Europe."
This new "ready to use" battery storage system is modular in design and easily transportable by truck or sea. It is based on a twenty foot sea container which acts as a compact and low cost battery room ("energy module"), and a ten foot container for the AC/DC converter and AC-grid connection ("power module"). Each module serves as a building block from which solutions can be assembled to a customer's specific requirements and installed with the minimum preparation.
"Our aim is to create a storage solution that is easy to install and even easier to manage, giving our customers complete control over their energy storage system. With this in mind we are working closely with D3I GmbH to create a system manager," continues Nigel. "This controller will allow the system to be operated autonomously or directly commanded via a Graphic User Interface, allowing BESS to be safely operated by customers either on-site or remotely via the web."
Going forward, GNB will be designing region-specific versions of the "power module" to ensure its compatibility with different grid voltages and frequencies in different countries. It has also begun the development of a control strategy for Photovoltaic (PV) applications which will allow a PV/BESS combination system to have controlled electrical power output to the consumer or grid.
The BESS can be adapted to many different applications including peak shaving for the utility and industrial industries; time shift for renewables; long term storage of renewables; and grid voltage stabilisation.
"Renewable energy is high on everyone's agenda and finding ways of harvesting and storing this sustainable energy is an ever increasing dilemma. However, we believe our Battery Energy Storage System will allow many more companies to store and use renewable energy efficiently and, more importantly, cost-effectively," concludes Nigel.