energy storage system

A Ukrainian firm is set to build a 197MW lithium-ion energy storage system after securing a nine-figure loan from the World Bank.

Ukrainian private joint stock company Ukrhydroenergo (UHE) has borrowed a total of $212 million for the project to help link Ukraine’s power grid with the European power grid.

Power grid synchronisation is a Ukrainian strategic objective to create a competitive power market aligned with EU regulations and market practices. 

The project aims to enhance reliability and security of power supply through diversification of energy sources, and access to the EU’s market. 

The project will combine the energy storage systems with solar power plants within four hydropower plant sites (Kyiv, Kaniv, Kremenchuk and Seredniodniprovska) to allow for ancillary services to the national power grid. 

A long-duration battery with a solar power plant will also be installed within Dniester Hydro Power Plant.

The loan includes: a $177 million International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan; a $34 million Clean Technology Fund (CTF) concessional loan; and a $1 million CTF grant for a new project in Ukraine – Improving Power System Resilience for European Power Grid Integration (Installation of Hybrid Systems for Electricity Production in Ukrhydroenergo). 

Rup Banerji, World Bank regional country director for eastern Europe, said: “This will help Ukraine integrate its power system with the European power grid, reduce the influence of vested interests, and contribute to the achievement of a more energy independent Ukraine.”

The World Bank has already been working to prepare Ukraine’s power infrastructure for synchronisation with the EU power grid under the ongoing Second Power Transmission Project (PTP2). 

Zinc8 Energy Solutions has signed an 11-month contract to demonstrate its zinc-air energy storage system capabilities against a traditional generator set.

The Canadian firm’s 10kW/80kWh long-duration energy storage system will be tested for resilient backup application, and undergo assessment tests to address unique use cases in data centres. 

The $200,000 project will provide a demonstration of the performance of the company’s technology, combined with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), to be compared with the performance of a traditional generator set. 

The initial demonstration will be operated in standby and black started. 

The long-term goal is to swap the generator and configure the UPS with combined DC sources that includes long-duration energy storage from Zinc8.

The Zinc8 ESS is based upon patented zinc-air battery technology that stores energy in the form of zinc particles, similar in size to grains of sand. 

When the system is delivering power, the zinc particles are combined with oxygen drawn from the surrounding air. 

When the system is recharging, zinc particles are regenerated, and oxygen is returned to the surrounding air.

Vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals has formed a company with Invinity Energy Systems to rent vanadium electrolyte to energy storage system end users. 

The new company is part of Bushveld Minerals' strategy of supplying material, electrolyte and electrolyte rental products to vanadium redox flow battery companies, which it announced last November. 

A hybrid energy storage system has been completed in the Netherlands utilising lithium-ion batteries from Leclanché and flywheel technology from S4 Energy. 

Swiss company Leclanché partnered with Netherlands firm S4 Energy on the project in Almelo for energy management provider S4 Ancillary Services.

The State of Qatar has begun a pilot project to store grid-scale power using a 1MW/4MWh lithium-ion energy storage system— a first for the state that relies completely on power from gas and oil. 

The Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) launched the QR 10 million ($2.8 million) project in cooperation with Al Attiyah Group and Tesla.