ABB readies to install industrial microgrid at its India plant
ABB plans to install an industrial microgrid at its largest manufacturing facility in India, which employees 3,000 people.
The Vadodara facility in Gujarat, India will include a rooftop solar array to boost renewables, reduce fossil fuel use, and improve the facility’s electric reliability.
Microgrid are particularly important in India because of poor grid reliability in many regions.
“There is no better way to demonstrate our commitment to green and reliable power than installing a microgrid for our campus and contribute to the nation’s vision of clean energy and 500 MW of microgrids in the next five years, which is also in full alignment with ABB’s Next Level strategy,” said Sanjeev Sharma, CEO & managing director, ABB India.
The Vadodara industrial microgrid includes a 600-kW rooftop solar PV system, ABB’s PowerStore Battery grid stabilizing system and its Microgrid Plus dedicated control system.
The control system will help maximize the use of solar energy. Daytime solar will augment grid power and reduce dependency on diesel generators, which the facility turns on during grid outages.
ABB says that the microgrid will cut electricity bills and reduce the facility’s carbon footprint.
The industrial microgrid also will use ABB’s Internet of Things, Services and People approach — the microgrid’s operations and maintenance will run on a cloud-based remote service system.
Vadodara is ABB’s largest facility in India and manufactures power equipment like transformers, high voltage products, distribution relays, primary gas-insulated switchgear, motors, generators and turbochargers for a variety of national projects.
Installation of the Vadodara project follows ABB’s 2015 exhibit of a multisource microgrid pilot at its Automation and Power World event in New Delhi, India. Over three days, the microgrid avoided creation of almost 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. At the same time, it generated enough electricity to power 12,000 rural households.
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Aquion Energy offers home solar-plus-storage in Australia
Aquion Energy is offering a new solar-plus-storage product for homes in Australia in partnership with Fusion Power Systems.
Aquion describes the system — called Titan SmartStorage — as easy to install for residential customers and suited for off-grid applications, solar self-consumption, and storing solar energy for nighttime use. It also is free of toxic chemicals, 100 percent recyclable, noncombustible, and completely fire-safe, Aquion says.
Titan SmartStorage combines Aquion Energy Aspen saltwater batteries with an Australian-made, purpose-built inverter and charge controller, designed and built to withstand Australian conditions.
Tim Poor, Aquion Energy chief commercial officer, said that solar self-consumption is a perfect application for Aquion batteries.
“Titan product makes it easy for installers to deploy a fully integrated system to end users, both for new solar installations and as a retrofit for existing systems,” he said.
He added, “Australian homeowners who install Titan can sleep well at night knowing that the Aquion batteries used in Titan are the safest and most environmentally friendly batteries in the world.”
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Amber Kinetics and Hawaiian Electric team on flywheel energy storage
Amber Kinetics and Hawaiian Electric have agreed to conduct a joint energy storage pilot project to test the capability of a flywheel system.
Amber Kinetics will build and install an Amber Gen2 Model 25 steel flywheel system, which it describes as the first commercially available four-hour duration flywheel. The project will be located at the Campbell Industrial Park generating station on O‘ahu.
The flywheel can charge and discharge electricity for multiple duty cycles per day.
A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store and release energy. The storage system can provide renewable firming and peak energy shifting, flexible capacity, and ancillary services like voltage smoothing and frequency response for reliable utility operation.
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