NEWS
AES launches Open Innovation Contest for unmanned inspection approaches AES is launching an Open Innovation Contest in partnership with NineSigma, a company with extensive external resources and connections, to accelerate innovation and improve the safety and increasing availability of power plants through unmanned inspections in locations of extreme heat. Three winners will be recognized and rewarded at AES’ global Innovation Congress in July 2017, held at its corporate headquar-
ters in the Washington, DC area. The company is accepting proposals until the end of February. More than 20,000 MW of generation capacity is offline globally at all times due in part to outage-related inspections, reducing the ability of electric grids to absorb variable renewable sources such as wind and solar. “These outages represent $1 billion in lost power capacity, nearly the energy consumption in the state
of Virginia every year,” says AES. “Electricity generation can require extreme heat conditions. When a system failure occurs that halts electricity generation and we need to inspect and repair equipment, we must wait until temperatures reach a sufficiently low level for someone with personal protective equipment to enter the confined space safely to inspect and repair the equipment. “It not only can be hazardous work, but also in-
creases the time it takes the company to begin generating electricity again.” AES says it is looking for innovative unmanned technologies to conduct inspection work that can resist extreme heat and keep people safe while improving energy availability by getting plants back online more quickly. Responses and potential solutions are being requested from other companies, consultants, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs or inventors.
Nidec-ASI joins German utility to install one of world’s largest BESS Italian generating firm Nidec-ASI and German utility STEAG have installed one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems with a total capacity of 90MW across six different sites in Germany. LG Chem, the Korean electronics giant, supplied the batteries for the BESS, which was installed at three sites in North Rhine Westphalia, in Germany’s northwest, and three in Saarland, in the south. The systems, based on Nidec-ASI’s energy conversion solutions, store power which STEAG then uses to provide auxiliary services to Germany’s power grid. Media reports suggest the project cost around $100 million. Each of the six 15MW systems contains five 3MW units, which include power converters, transformers, the control system and the LG Chem new-generation lithium batteries. Developing energy storage technologies has become a prime focus in Germany as part of its transition away from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Between 2012 and 2015, 26MW in 10 pilot pro-
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jects was installed, much of which received funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, according to the organization GTAI – Germany Trade & Invest. This latest STEAG installment increases the country’s grid battery storage capacity by more than three times as part of Germany’s
‘ambitious energy transition project’, says GTAI. “The planned closure of all nuclear power plants in Germany by 2022 poses a significant technological challenge in the transport and storage of electricity from multiple sources,” said Giovanni Barra, CEO of Nidec-ASI. “Nidec-ASI provides the
AES picks Mitsubishi-GS Yuasa and Parker-Hannifin to supply Chile BESS AES Gener and AES Energy Storage chose ParkerHannifin in December to supply advanced battery energy storage systems for their new Cochrane power station in Chile. The battery energy storage system will be supplied by Mitsubishi Corporation with the lithium ion battery module manufactured by GS Yuasa and the lithium ion battery cells by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture of Mitsubishi Corporation and GS Yuasa. The project is the companies’ third energy storage facility in Northern Chile, integrating 20MW of advanced battery-based
energy storage with a 532MW thermal power plant. The project is owned by AES Gener, the second largest power generator in the country, and Mitsubishi Corporation. “We already have battery energy storage systems in our Angamos and Norgener power plants,” said Felipe Cerón chief executive of AES Gener. “It will be good for the supply of power in the northern grid, and also for the stability of the system.” The Cochrane facility being developed by AES Gener will incorporate AES Energy Storage’s Advanced Reserves
technological innovation of its management system and storage control, which allows the release of electricity to the grid within milliseconds to strengthen its stability, and also offers experience in managing such complex projects.” Nidec-ASI was formerly known as Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali. product including patented controls, a modular system architecture, and operational support. The Grid Services division of Parker-Hannifin will provide power conversion and system-level services. The battery energy storage systems in combination with the energy produced by the Cochrane generating station will provide reliable power in the Northern Grid. AES Gener and AES Energy Storage have previously developed energy storage projects at the Norgener and Angamos power stations. The first of these, the Los Andes Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), has been delivering grid reliability services since 2009.
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