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Solar Energy

Hybrid power plant – Leclanché builds solar storage hybrid power plant on St. Kitts

October 17, 2024 ryansheehanrts

St Kitts is a small island in the Caribbean. At 174 square kilometres, it is just over half the size of Munich. The average electricity consumption per capita of around 3,500 kilowatt hours per year is only slightly lower than that of Great Britain with its industry. To make this electricity consumption more sustainable in the future, Solec Power will build a photovoltaic system including an associated storage unit.

Solec Power is a subsidiary of the Swiss storage manufacturer Leclanché. The intermediate electricity storage facility will also come from there. Solec Power’s specific plans include the construction of a solar park with an output of 35.7 megawatts. This can provide part of the island’s electricity supply. In order to be able to utilise all of the solar energy, Solec Power is building an additional battery storage facility that can temporarily store 43.6 megawatt hours of the solar power produced.

Storage unit provides various functions

The entire solar storage unit hybrid system is controlled by an energy management system developed by Leclanché. However, the battery system will not only balance electricity production and consumption. It can also balance loads and provide a back-up spinning reserve. This means that even if the storage unit is not being charged or discharged, it can step in at very short notice to support the local power grid to which it is connected. An additional emergency power function also reduces outages and increases grid stability.

25 Delivery agreed

In the case of St. Kitts, the solar park supplies electricity to the grid of the St. Kitts Electricity Company (Skelec). The utility has concluded a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the project developer Solec for the electricity from the solar park. This will be supplied at a fixed price over the agreed period. The storage unit will also support Skelec’s grid in the future. This project makes St. Kitts a global pioneer in the integration of renewable energies,” said Konris Maynard, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Sun replaces diesel

With the signing of the PPA and other documents, construction of the plant is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024. It should be connected to the Skelec grid from 2025. According to Leclanché, it will supply around 62,000 megawatt hours of electricity in the first year of operation and, together with the storage unit, will cover more than a third of the island’s needs.

Also interesting: Holiday resort in England self-supplies using solar power and storage

The PPA will enable significant cost savings of up to 40 per cent compared to the current cost of generating electricity, which St. Kitts mainly covers with diesel generators. The solar storage unit hyrid replace over 4 million gallons of diesel per year.

Saving up to 200 million dollars

It is also a financial gain. This is because the system is estimated to generate savings of between 170 and 200 million US dollars for the utility over the 25-year term of the contract. The fixed price agreement also means that all parties involved in the project are on the safe side. Solec and Leclanché have a secure refinancing of the project and Skelec in turn receives the energy at stable prices. (su/mfo)

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Solar Energy

Showcase project – Phoenix Contact opens park to show the future of the All Electric Society

October 14, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Phoenix Contact has completely redesigned the access area to the factory premises in Blomberg in Germany on an area of around 7,600 square metres. The centrepiece is a freely accessible park that makes the vision of the All Electric Society tangible for everyone and explains it in an understandable way. A distinctive feature is a solar tracker with a diameter of twelve metres on the roundabout directly at the park. It can be rotated so that it is always at the right angle to the sun.

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Solar-electric power supply already possible today

By means of the energy flow from generation, conversion, storage and distribution to optimised energy use, the park shows how the All Electric Society can become reality. Real applications illustrate how sector coupling works and which technologies make it possible.

The park is a miniature representation of the real world. Glass containers for the respective applications, open-air systems and a pavilion with a control room and meeting rooms form the exhibition areas of the park. This shows a holistic picture of the sparing use of resources based on existing technologies.

Experience sector coupling at first hand

The common thread running through the park is the flow of energy and data. Along this theme, applications are placed in a meaningful context and their mutual influence is shown. The basis is the generation of renewable energy with solar and wind power. In the park itself, solar modules provide sustainable electricity. They are located on the roofs of the Cubes and the charging stations, integrated into the facade of the pavilion and used as floor panels.

Around 155 kilowatts of photovoltaics installed

A total of 550 solar modules were installed in the park. They supply 155,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity per year. Wind energy is exemplified by a walk-in wind gondola in the park and a wind tree. Its small wind rotors turn even in weak winds and generate energy. With 36 blades, so-called aeroleafs, the wind tree has a total output of almost eleven kilowatts.

Since the sun and the wind are not always available in equal quantities, surplus energy must be stored and released when needed. Battery storage units are used for this purpose, for example. In this way, energy consumers in the park are supplied with clean energy at all times. These include the buildings, e-charging stations and the applications in the park. Optimisation measures are also demonstrated on these consumers in order to reduce energy demand and resource use.

Systems precisely balanced

The energy generators, storage units, consumers and the medium-voltage grid are connected via a local grid station. An energy management system ensures the balance between generators, storage units and consumers. The system records all relevant characteristic data and controls the energy flows via the local network station.

Also interesting: Solar power for large-scale tenants housing project in the Netherlands

In the park of the All Electric Society, not only electrical energy is needed, but also other energy sources. The cubes and the pavilion in the park are supplied with heat or cold. This energy flow is controlled by an independent hydraulic system that integrates a cold local heating network, ice storage and two heat pumps.

Site now open for visitors

The park has been freely accessible to visitors as of September 2023. Extensive information is available on the internet for an overview. This makes it possible to plan a visit in advance. (HS/mfo)

All information about the All Electric Society Park can be found here.

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Solar Energy

André Kremer and Joel Wagner of Iqony Sens: Solar and wind become one unit

September 16, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The Essen Bay Steyr Group has merged its two business units for solar and wind energy projects. Why?

André Kremer: Putting together the two technologies is just the next logical step to transform the company from project development and EPC to one of Europe’s leading IPPs. We want to combine the technologies wind, solar and storage under one roof.

Joel Wagner: If you look at Steag‘s history, being an IPP is basically baked into it’s DNA. Transforming the renewable energy business towards the leading IPP makes sense. But how do we get there? First of all it’s important to understand that both business lines, the wind business as well as the solar business, have operated very successfully across Europe.

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How many projects have you already built?

Joel Wagner: We managed to implement an IPP portfolio of 250 megawatts in France, Germany and Italy. Now we are achieving the next logical step, which is expanding our IPP business. We are doing so by establishing two business lines under the roof of Iqony Sens. The one line focuses on the development, realization and commercialization of our own assets. And the second business line remains a very strong partner as EPC and O&M service provider for our customers in Europe.

Watch the full interview on YouTube

What synergy effects do you expect from the merger?

André Kremer: It’s not only about synergies, it’s rather completing each other. We’ve been very strong with the wind unit in France and Germany and also in Poland. We are very strong in the asset management, while the solar part was rather an agile developer in Germany, UK, Italy, and Spain. Putting it together means getting the most out of a project and a site. This is now of utmost importance. So not just increasing capacity, but using the most efficient technology to increase the output, base load capable, if possible, per construction site.

More about new solar projects

How does the practical side look on the working together?

Joel Wagner: Look, where these projects are to be. They are actually developed and erected and managed, and it goes hand-to-hand with local acceptance. When we look at the stakeholders, municipalities, the local off-takers, we basically have the same stakeholders we want to team up with. So combining wind and PV in the early stage of projects makes a lot of sense. Because we want to become a very strong partner not just for the project development, but also for 20, 25 years to operate these assets.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

Is there also an aspect of grid security with this merger?

Joel Wagner: The technology complement each other because we have strong wind conditions during winter times. We obviously can generate green electricity during night times from wind turbines. Solar is super strong in the summer, during day time. We manage to address the volatility. Reliable base load generation from renewables is more and more needed. It is needed if you look at the data center business, if you look at the hydrogen business to store electricity.

What is special about hydro electric?

André Kremer: In the Iqony Group such solutions as standalone utility scale storage systems and hydrogen are well represented.

What effect will the merger have on the European market?

André Kremer: The vision is 100% clean and renewable energy. Putting these strong units together and delivering baseload energy, that puts us in the first row as one of the leading renewable energy provider.

Joel Wagner: Really important is to connect the generation side with the demand side. Within Icony we are developing also our own hydrogen projects. We’re developing large-scale battery storage solutions. Within Icony, we have the ability to really connect the generation but also the demand. This is a very important blueprint for the European market. The demand for renewables is increasing. We are focusing on a very diverse footprint within Europe. We are not just focusing on Germany, but we are focusing also on markets like Italy, like UK, like France. Because we really want to connect.

Interview by Manfred Gorgus

Do you want to learn more about Iqony Sens? Please look here.

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