Hitachi ABB Power Grids Ltd. has been selected by Impact Solar Limited, a subsidiary of Impact Solar Group, to deploy the e-meshTM PowerStoreTM battery energy storage solution (BESS) and control system as part of Thailand’s largest private microgrid at Saha Industrial Park in Sriracha.
Thailand may lack the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) necessary to navigate supply and demand challenges. The 2024 PDP draft included 10,000 MW of BESS, but this may see the country struggle to fulfil carbon neutrality and Net Zero commitments over the coming decades.
This is partly due to a lack of clarity on how battery storage fits into existing electricity infrastructure. In 2022, the Thai government approved 24 BESS projects, all of which were located alongside solar operations. Their total combined storage capacity was 994 MW.
The advanced microgrid is digitally-enabled to integrate the electricity produced from distributed energy resources (DERs), including solar, and simulates a utility scale power system. Using real-time automation information, the microgrid will manage and optimise the power output of DERs from across the entire industrial park.
Their total combined storage capacity was 994 MW. Interestingly, this allowed generators to sign semi-firm power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) with minimum availability guarantees. Many solar projects in Thailand have non-firm PPAs in place due to a lack of storage on site.
In February, Energy-Storage.news reported that Hitachi ABB Power Grids is supplying BESS and smart controls to Singapore’s first-ever virtual power plant (VPP) project as well as to a solar microgrid project at a coal mine in Indonesia.