“Battery-based energy storage is critical to increasing the share of renewables and decarbonizing island power systems. Fluence is proud to have collaborated with Siemens to support EDA in their drive to innovate and lead the energy transition,” said Paul McCusker, SVP & EMEA President at Fluence.
The Azores have nine isolated autonomous energy systems with great potential for renewable energy, mainly from wind, solar, and geothermal sources. The challenge was to find the right balance between energy production and consumption in the face of sharply fluctuating feed-in and demand cycles. The project team worked with the customer with the goal of providing a more secure power supply for island residents while steadily increasing the share of renewables in the electricity mix to up to 50 percent.
Since 2018, based on their knowledge and experience in the field of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), the consulting team of Siemens Power Technologies International (PTI) has performed several BESS sizing and integration studies for EDA. These studies aim to find the solution that is best suited technically and economically, assess viability, and specify the sizing and technical requirements as a basis for tenders.
During the implementation stage, PTI is supporting EDA with BESS dynamic and integration studies. Different sets of scenarios are considered in order to evaluate BESS response and ensure reliability, stability and safety of the entire electrical system.
The Spectrum Power Microgrid Management System (MGMS) from Siemens deployed on Terceira ensures optimal interaction between all power generation assets, battery storage and power consumption. It enables real-time monitoring and control of the entire infrastructure as well as hourly or daily forecasts regarding production, consumption, and storage use.
These forecasts are based on a variety of data, including weather information and historical data. The software allows the operator to manage and optimize the complete microgrid.
The 15-megawatt battery-based storage system supplied by Fluence is one of the largest stand-alone projects of this type (on an island) in Europe.
Fluence’s Gridstack system will deliver grid forming, reactive power and short circuit capabilities. This allows excess renewable energy to be captured and then fed back into the grid when not enough power is available to meet demand, reducing the production of energy from fossil fuel sources. The modular battery storage system can be expanded as needed.