Poland’s largest hybrid lithium-ion and lead-acid battery energy storage system has begun the full-scale technology demonstration stage to gauge its ability to support wind power generation.
The Smart Grid Demonstration Project aims to explore how the hybrid ESS at the Bystra Wind Farm in northern Poland can expand renewable energy penetration in the country.
The system combines a 1MW/0.47MWh lithium-ion battery with a 5MW/26.9MWh lead-acid storage system manufactured by Showa Denko Materials
The test project will investigate how a hybrid system can alleviate short-term fluctuations in wind power generation and provide necessary reserve power for load balancing grid services. It reached the monitoring phase in June and full-scale demonstrative operation phase on 25 September.
Japan firms New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and project partners Hitachi, Showa Denko Materials and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, delivered the project, which is supported by the Ministry of Climate of the Republic of Poland and has been carried out in cooperation with Polish project partner companies: Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE), Energa Operator, and Energa OZE.
PSE will operate the ESS as a source of reserve power to adjust the demand-supply balance during normal operation and be able to alleviate the effects of short-term fluctuations on the Bystra wind farm.
The project follows the introduction of a Special Protection Scheme (SPS) system, which entered into operation in October 2019, to increase the area’s security of supply.
In response to the EU directives, Poland is planning to increase the renewable energy usage and is aiming to introduce large amounts of wind power generation, particularly in the country’s northern regions, which are fortunate in terms of wind conditions.
