Gregor Küpper, Managing Director of SOLARWORLD Africa, says Huawei FusionSolar smart photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system (ESS) solutions are an ideal option for sub-Saharan African mining operations looking to prevent production losses resulting from energy disruptions.
Smart PV and containerised ESS offer a solution for off-grid or backup power, especially in remote locations.
“Used as backup power or an off-grid solution, in terms of cost per kilowatt-hour, the combination of PV and battery storage outperforms diesel-driven generators, which are widely used to supplement energy needs in the mining industry. It also eliminates the impact of increasingly common diesel supply constraints and price hikes on profitability,” says Küpper.
The FusionSolar ESS solution proves competitive, especially when considering the rising price of grid-based power – and the struggling national power utility Eskom is set to implement approved tariff increases from April 2023 as it battles loadshedding.
Küpper says, “The FusionSolar product range offers the best containerised solution for utility-scale storage that I have seen up to now on the market. The range is reliable and easy to implement, and it offers attractive efficiencies.”
SOLARWORLD became the first company to introduce FusionSolar Smart PV solutions in South Africa in 2014. Today these solutions include the LUNA2000 smart string ESS.
Equipped with lithium-ion batteries, the LUNA2000 is a compact, space-optimised solution in a 20-foot container that provides 2 MWh storage capacity. Generation capability can be increased in 200 kW increments following a minimum 1 MW installed capacity.
“SOLARWORLD just made the latest version available. We went from a 0.5C battery C-rate, which is equal to a 120-minute charge and discharge rate, to a 1C battery C-rate, which is equal to 60 minutes. Many projects under development are now reconsidering the use of 1C-rated batteries,” says Küpper.
To ensure the longevity of its batteries, the LUNA2000 makes use of a temperature-controlled environment to prevent battery degradation when operating in hot conditions, typical in Africa. It is also designed to ensure that the entire capacity of the 2 MWh storage container is not lost while a battery pack is being replaced.
Küpper adds that another important aspect to consider when investing in an ESS is whether the inverter, battery and management system come from the same source. He says performance issues with small- and large-scale storage systems always arise when products from different brands are combined, even when manufacturers guarantee they are compatible with other solutions and their protocols.
Equipped with artificial intelligence, FusionSolar’s utility-scale, commercial and residential solutions offer reduced operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, especially on projects in remote locations. Using cloud-based monitoring software, users can check the status of battery cells to identify problems remotely and reduce on-site working hours by conducting automatic calibrations.
FusionSolar Regional Manager, Quintin Zeeman says, “It’s about cost effectiveness. In terms of energy storage, a traditional 100 MW battery ESS with 50 battery systems may require up to 300 man-days dedicated to manual battery pack calibrations across the plant. Huawei eliminates the need for manual calibration completely by incorporating pack optimisers to achieve automatic state-of-charge calibration, without needing to shut down the system to do so.
“Further, deploying teams to conduct O&M on site, especially at remote sites, is challenging as there is a certain period in which you need to react to faults. As well as using AI to reduce the cost of performing general maintenance, automatic state-of-charge calibration saves the cost of having a technician travel to site to conduct that maintenance.”
For more information visit: www.solarworld.co.za
