May 18, 2018 | News Brief | Kokam Co., Ltd, has successfully deployed the largest industrial Li-Ion battery deployment in Australia. The 30-megawatt (MW) system / 11.4-megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system (ESS) was deployed for Alinta Energy, an Australian utility. The ESS features Kokam’s high power Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) Oxide battery technology, and is being used to improve the performance of an islanded high voltage network, which supplies power to major iron ore producers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Hybrid Natural Gas/Battery System Increases Islanded Microgrid’s Reliability, Efficiency, and Sustainability
Operational since April 2018, the ESS consists of five 2.2 MWh Kokam Containerized ESS (KCE) units using Kokam Ultra High Power Li-ion NMC (UHP NMC) batteries. The ESS, in conjunction with Alinta Energy’s existing 178 MW open cycle gas turbine Newman Power Station, serves as a hybrid natural gas/battery energy generation and storage system. This hybrid system, along with a 220 kV high voltage power transmission system and high voltage substations, form an islanded microgrid that is used to power iron ore mines.
“For the iron ore industry in the Pilbara, generating hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars’ worth of output an hour, a reliable energy supply is crucial. This battery will let us better handle peak demand periods, increase reliability for our customers and lower our emissions as a result,” said Alinta Energy, MD & CEO, Jeff Dimery. “The project demonstrates our commitment to finding innovative ways to integrate our existing thermal generation portfolio into an evolving market that will incorporate more renewable generation and other disruptive technologies, with an emphasis on sustainability, reliability, and affordability of supply.”
“Alinta Energy’s hybrid natural gas/energy storage system and islanded microgrid demonstrate how innovative technologies, combined with intelligent design, can improve power reliability for industrial customers, while also providing efficiency and sustainability benefits,” said Ike Hong, vice president of Kokam’s Power Solutions Division. “The Alinta Energy Newman Battery Storage Project provides an example of how new high power energy storage technologies enable both utility and industrial customers to build hybrid natural gas/battery systems that increase energy reliability, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and boost their bottom lines.”
The Alinta Energy project provides an example of the growing number of utility and industrial market opportunities for Kokam’s UHP NMC battery technology. Designed for high-power energy storage applications, the UHP NMC battery technology can be used by utilities and other energy services companies for spinning reserve, frequency regulation, wind or large solar power system ramp rate control, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), voltage support and other applications that require large amounts of power to be dispatched in seconds or less. In addition, the technology’s ability to quickly receive and dispatch very large amounts of power make it particularly well suited to be combined with natural gas, diesel and other power systems used to generate energy for industrial applications, where even a brief power disruption that shuts down mining, off-shore drilling or other industrial operations can result in costs totaling hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.
