A 300kW lead-acid and ultracapacitor hybrid energy storage system is being deployed in Ireland using Australian firm Ecoult’s UltraBattery technology.
It will be the first time Ecoult’s UltraBattery has been used in Europe.
The system will be deployed at South Dublin County Council’s (SDCC) Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed and be used to integrate fast-response storage with Ireland’s DS3 electricity grid.
Back in February a hybrid system using lithium-ion battery and an ultracapacitor was deployed at the testbed.
The technology was developed by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and commercialised by its former subsidiary Ecoult.
US firm, East Penn Manufacturing Company, which owns Ecoult will manufacture the battery.
The UltraBattery® utilises ultracapacitor properties within alead-acid battery built in a common electrolyte.
It can operate in Partial State of Charge because its chemistry modifies the processes associated with the formation and dissolving of sulphate crystals in the negative plate during cycling.
Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed is a collaboration between SDCC, Irish Micro Electricity Generation Association (MEGA) and a host of renewable energy firms, including Ecoult and German energy systems developer firm Freqcon.
Freqcon supplied the power converters for a system Dublin-based Schwungrad Energie oin County Offaly, Ireland that uses Hitachi lead-acid battery and US manufacturer Beacon flywheel technology.
Last year Ecoult’s UltraBattery system was installed by Hydro Tasmania in Australia. The 3MW 1.6MWh system was the largest of its type in Australia.
