The Singapore Electricity Market Authority (EMA) has confirmed that the Southeast Asia region’s largest battery storage project to date is on course for commissioning in November.
The 200MW/200MWh project is being delivered by Singapore-headquartered engineering services group Sembcorp on Jurong Island, home to a large industrial park and much of the city-state’s energy generation and infrastructure.
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The regulatory EMA has recognised that battery storage is a game changer for integrating variable generation from sources like solar PV, as well as providing grid stability more generally in helping manage mismatches between electricity supply and demand.
From its Accelerating Energy Storage Access for Singapore (ACCESS) programme launched in 2018, EMA welcomed expressions of interest (EOI) earlier this year from companies able to build, own and operate 200MW/200MWh of energy storage systems (ESS) in the country.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news in June, that award went to Sembcorp, which as some readers may know, has been active in battery storage projects in international territories, such as the UK. However, its project on Jurong Island is the company’s first in its home country.
It follows the switching-on in 2020 of Singapore’s first grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) project, supplied by Wärtsilä with 2.4MWh capacity.
EMA said this week that it believes the BESS, which will be split across two sites on Jurong Island and span 2 hectares, could be one of the fastest constructed to date.
Equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry batteries, the fast-response BESS will be used to actively correct mismatches in energy supply and demand as well as perform various regulation ancillary services to address fluctuations on a second-by-second basis, such as those created by the introduction of large shares of solar PV to the grid.
EMA noted that LFP technology is “proven, safe and high-performing” and used worldwide to store renewable energy.
The authority continues to develop policy and regulatory conditions, as well as standards, to support and guide Singapore’s deployment of energy storage, it said in a media announcement. This could include guidelines and rules on safety of installation and maintenance for BESS, with regard to Singapore’s local operating conditions, EMA said.
While it will be Southeast Asia’s biggest battery storage project so far, Energy-Storage.news has reported on various large-scale projects in the region recently, perhaps most notably in the Philippines and Taiwan markets.
For example, in July system integrator Fluence signed a deal for a 100MW project in Taiwan, its third in the country so far, while Philippines power company SMC Global Power was reported in July to be around halfway through a buildout of 1,000MW/1,000MWh of BESS projects.
The largest of those is thought to be around 80MW, with Fluence and other system integrators and BESS manufacturers like Wartsila Energy and ABB also contracted to deliver the pipeline.
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 1st Energy Storage Summit Asia, 11-12 July 2023 in Singapore. The event will help give clarity on this nascent, yet quickly growing market, bringing together a community of credible independent generators, policymakers, banks, funds, off-takers and technology providers. For more information, go to the website.
