A 2GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project has gone into operation in Saudi Arabia, according to the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm which delivered it.
PowerChina Hubei Engineering, a subsidiary of the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) said last week (17 January) that the 500MW/2,000MWh (4-hour duration) Saudi Bisha BESS project is supplying power to the grid.
The facility is claimed to be the largest electrochemical battery storage project to be brought online in a single phase of construction and installation in the world to date.
Located in the southern border town of Bisha around 160km from the Red Sea coast, the facility aims to support the local electricity grid with services including peak shaving – reducing power demand during peak periods – and enabling the greater integration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources to the network.
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EPC firm PowerChina Hubei Engineering noted that the Bisha project team overcame challenges in constructing the project including sand, dust and high temperature conditions.
PowerChina Hubei Engineering said the Saudi Bisha project demonstrates the strong potential for collaboration between the two countries in the energy sector.
For China, it meets the aims of the Belt and Road Initiative to increase the Asian powerhouse’s connections and influence across land and sea, the firm said in an announcement.
Meanwhile, for Saudi Arabia, the project is a step toward the Kingdom’s Vision2030 goals of increasing the share of renewable energy to 50% of its energy mix by the end of this decade. According to various reports, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has said the country will pursue the deployment of 48GWh of energy storage to enable its integration.
Saudi Arabia targets rapid BESS deployment
The state-owned Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), the nation’s principal buyer of electricity, has recently launched an 8GWh BESS tender for four separate 500MW, 4-hour duration projects.
At the end of last year, SPPC released a list of pre-qualified bidders for the competitive solicitation, with 15-year Storage Services contracts to be issued to successful developers and consortia. Contracts will be issued on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, with developers to retain 100% equity in their projects through special purpose vehicle (SPV) companies.
In addition to the tender, many of the ‘Gigaprojects’ Saudi Arabia is building, or seeking to build, under the Vision2030 strategy will include large capacities of renewable energy and gigawatt-hours of battery storage to match, such as the NEOM new-build city and Red Sea Project luxury resort destination.
At a recent event in the country, Chinese battery manufacturer and storage system integrator Hithium launched a BESS solution designed to be suitable for deployment in extreme desert conditions and said it plans to build a production plant in Saudi Arabia with 5GWh annual production capacity.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates (UAE), a solar-plus-storage power plant is in development by renewable energy company Masdar and the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) that would pair 5.2GWdc of solar PV with 19GWh of battery storage.
The project, to be built in Abu Dhabi, was announced earlier this month, with PowerChina appointed as one of its EPC contractors along with India’s Larsen & Toubro. The Abu Dhabi plant would enable the round-the-clock 24/7 dispatch of 1GW of renewable energy, again, claimed to be the largest project of its type in the world to date.
