Russian PV module manufacturer and project developer Hevel Group will start using energy storage components for its PV projects in Siberia. Under an agreement signed with French battery maker Saft, Hevel will integrate MW-scale energy storage systems (ESS) using lithium-ion energy storage technology from Saft in the Altai Republic in Southern Siberia.
The Russian company plans to start work on these solar & battery storage projects with the 10 MW Kosh-Agach PV plant near the Mongolian border as a pilot project, using Saft Intensium Max containerized lithium-ion system. Based on the results of the pilot project, it will decide about the next stage, which is to move to commercial implementation with several ESS units with a total power in excess of 20 MW, mainly in off-grid locations, to be installed between 2020 to 2022.
In Altai Republic, Hevel has an operational PV capacity of 40 MW in the form of four power plants, which it plans to increase to about 140 MW by 2020. It also plans to extend the ESS component to its off-grid power plants in Siberia and Far East regions, it stated.
"Integration of large-scale energy storage systems in solar power plants leads to the next stage of renewables in Russia that have evolved into an industry with almost 6 GW capacity," said Hevel's CEO Igor Shakhray. "Such solutions are needed to increase flexibility and dispatchability of installed solar generation and therefore they enable system operator to explore power equipment of PV plants more efficiently in managing operational regimes of unified power system that will bring more advantages over conventional power."
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