French firm Voltalia has started building the largest energy storage system in French Guiana made up of two separate lithium-ion batteries.
The Mana Stockage facility with 10MW / 11.3MWh of storage is located close to Voltalia’s under-construction Savanes des Pères project within the Toco storage complex, which couples a 2.6MW / 2.9MWh battery system and a 3.8MW solar plant.
The new project was a winner in the French Commission for Energy Regulation (CRE) call for projects in 2018. In fact, the Mana Stockage faciluty represents 90% of the storage capacity awarded for French Guiana.
One battery unit of 5MW / 4MWh capacity will be used to regulate the frequency of the network, while the second unit of 5MW / 7.3MWh capacity will be used for arbitrage.
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Together with the neigbhouring Savane des Pères project, the storage and PV systems are due for completion in the second half of the year
Sébastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia, said: “Battery storage is a nascent market: it represented less than 1% of the renewables market in 2018. With the drop in batteries prices, but also in the cost of other storage technologies, the sector will experience a fast and sustainable growth. Active in the market since 2017, we continue to build an expertise on both small and large storage capacities, a strategy which will open up many opportunities.”
