NEC Energy Solutions is further expanding its presence in Chile by installing a 2MW/2MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system in Arica, in the north of the country.
The BESS— NEC’s third such project in Chile since 2009, taking their total installed storage capacity in the country to 32MW— will be connected to an existing substation to provide spinning reserve.
The system is made up of containerised lithium-ion batteries, a power conversion system, and NEC’s Aeros controls system. It will have the capacity to provide “other ancillary services to help with the integration of PV and wind projects”. The BESS will be operated by Engie Energía Chile, the regional arm of French multinational utility Engie.
This latest announcement comes just weeks after Engie began commercial operations of a 100MW solar facility with a molten salt storage system in South Africa.
In addition to the substantial amount of storage that NEC has installed in Chile, in 2018 the company provided a scalable lithium-ion BESS off the coast of Brazil, in order to boost the use of solar power and reduce reliance on diesel in the country.
