Jersey, US, based energy storage firm redT has made its first move into Africa with the deliver of two 5-40kWh vanadium redox flow batteries.
The energy storage systems will be connected to a 20kW solar array at a residential development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The units will provide time-shifting of excess PV energy captured during the day for use at night, and back-up power during scheduled and unscheduled grid outages.
System commissioning will take place later in the year, in-line with property development schedules.
redT aims to place 18 storage units into 12 key customer applications across different regions as part of its business plan.
Earlier this month redT delivered two of its 15-240kWh energy storage systems at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) in Cumbernauld, Scotland.
Following PNDC tests, the units will be moved to the Scottish Isle of Gigha, to be coupled with the island’s 1MW wind farm. Eventually the project will have 1.68MW of storage via seven 15kW – 240kWh units connected in series.
redT CEO Scott McGregor said: “The delivery of contract manufactured, large-scale containerised vanadium flow batteries to a customer’s project for the first time is a huge achievement for us and the industry as a whole.”
Last month energy supplier Eon installed a redT 5-40kWh vanadium redox flow battery in Somerset, England, as part of a research project to understand the potential benefits of storage to commercial customers.
The energy storage system will be used for peak-shaving and time-shift excess electricity generated by the customer’s 3.5MW solar array.