The Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) has chosen Redflow’s zinc-bromine flow batteries to store energy in off-grid telecommunication sites in remote locations in New Zealand.
The supply arrangements and financial elements of the relationship are being finalised as RCG and Redflow establish a direct relationship to purchase batteries.
The first site is due to be installed by the end of December 2019. It will include 30 PV solar panels, eight Redflow ZBM2 batteries totalling 80kWh and a diesel genset system.
The full number of sites that will use Redflow’s batteries will be determined once RCG has made a decision on the number of sites that will be off-grid.
Redflow’s chief commercial officer, Ben Shepherd, told BEST: “New Zealand is a rugged and mountainous country with quite a small population, which makes it difficult and/or uneconomic to deliver mains grid power and wired telecommunications to all its citizens.
“In some circumstances, RCG will go into rugged and remote terrain where backhaul and power infrastructure is difficult to access or does not exist.
“While the mains power supply is preferred, this is not possible in some circumstances, which requires fully off-grid power solutions.
“Redflow batteries provide on-site energy storage for these remotely-located mobile towers, replacing full dependence on diesel genset power backup systems, which are both expensive and logistically challenging to maintain.
RCG’s Head of Procurement and Commercial, Richard Spencer, said he believed Redflow’s energy storage technology was a good choice because of its deep cycling capability, long life and its environmental benefits over competing technologies.
Redflow Managing Director and CEO Tim Harris said he looked forward to negotiating the supply arrangements with RCG and finalising the detailed financial elements of the relationship.”
