Increase the deployment of energy storage systems! Spain plans to build 20GW of energy storage projects by 2030

According to foreign media reports, Spanish inverter and energy storage system supplier Ingeteam has announced that it has provided a 3MW/9MWh battery energy storage system for Spain's first solar + energy storage project.

Ingeteam signed an agreement with Spanish utility Iberdrola last year to participate in the deployment of this solar-plus-storage project in the town of Almaraz in the Extramadura region, about 200 kilometers west of the Spanish capital Madrid, and become the battery storage system supplier for the project .

Iberdrola’s battery storage system deployed in the Arañuelo III DC-coupled solar-plus-storage project

Iberdrola launched the Arañuelo III solar-plus-storage project in September 2021, with an installed capacity of 40MW of solar power generation facilities. The project is deployed at the Campo Arañuelo complex operated by Iberdrola, which currently operates three solar power projects with a total installed capacity of 143MW.

Iberdrola has invested about 80 million euros ($90.1 million) in the integrated power plant, employed about 500 workers during construction, and it also contracted almost all site work and civil engineering to local companies.

The Arañuelo III solar + energy storage project is equipped with a battery energy storage system with a capacity of 3MW/9MWh. Ingeteam is also a technical partner for the Arañuelo I and Arañuelo II solar power projects developed by Iberdrola, which includes the installation and commissioning of photovoltaic inverters, transformers and controllers.

This lithium-ion battery energy storage system provided by Ingeteam for the Arañuelo III solar + energy storage project is integrated into a 45-foot standard container and provides power converters, SCADA monitoring system, and then civil works, after the battery energy storage system is assembled on site Start running. The company is also responsible for digital protection and control of on-site substations.

Ingeteam deployed two 1.5MW/4.5MWh battery energy storage units in two standard shipping containers on site.

The company notes that its battery storage system can be DC-coupled to a solar power generation facility, which means it can be directly connected to the inverter of that power generation facility.

DC-coupled solar + energy storage projects are now starting to become popular in the US state market. DC coupling can minimize energy loss during battery energy storage system charging because the current flows directly through the DC-DC converter, using less transformer equipment compared to AC-coupled systems, resulting in higher power generation efficiency.

Ingeteam says the project uses its new INGECON SUN STORAGE Power DC-DC series converters, which can be coupled to solar power facility inverters, and the company has created a "hybrid central inverter" that can be directly connected to solar power facilities and battery energy storage systems.

When the project came online last September, Iberdrola said it was the company’s first solar-plus-storage system deployed in Spain, and the first renewable energy project to be deployed with a battery storage system. The company has already built a green hydrogen production facility in Spain with 100MW of solar power and 20MWh of lithium-ion battery storage.

The company is also deploying a 5MW/5MWh battery storage system at a 32MW wind farm in the Basque Country, and plans to deploy another similar project in the region. The company also plans to install a 12MW battery energy storage system at its wind farm in Tenerife, Spain.

However, in late September last year, Iberdrola suspended tenders for goods and services related to renewable energy projects in Spain after the Spanish government introduced new measures aimed at tackling high electricity prices, according to industry media reports.

A new mechanism introduced last year in most of Europe limits or reduces profits for owners and investors of renewable energy projects until March 2022.

Iberdrola, a member of the Spanish Association of Electricity Companies (AELEC), warned that these mechanisms and rules could make some renewable energy projects unprofitable and that a detailed assessment of their economic viability would be required. However, the company said the decision did not apply to projects backed by auctions and other assessment frameworks - which are not subject to the government's new rules.

Meanwhile, the Spanish government included an energy storage tender in the 3GW renewable energy auction held early last year, but bidders did not bid for energy storage.

In February 2021, the Spanish government also approved a strategic roadmap for energy storage, calling for the deployment of 20 GW of energy storage by 2030 and 30 GW of energy storage by 2050 in order for the country to become carbon neutral by mid-century Target.

Yann Dumont, a renewable energy consultant and president of the Spanish Energy Storage Association (ASEALEN), said last year that the strategy has attracted industry players’ interest in energy storage deployment, and the Spanish renewable energy strategy (including the energy storage deployment roadmap) is therefore fully achievable. .

Industry media also reported on another solar-plus-storage project planned in Spain in December: Enel Green Power ordered a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage system from flow battery provider Largo Clean Energy. It will be deployed in conjunction with a solar power facility built on the Spanish island of Mallorca.