January 12, 2023: Saft, a subsidiary of oil big TotalEnergies, stated on January 10 that it received a contract from New Zealand’s energy firm, Meridian Vitality, to construct the primary large-scale community linked to BESS.
The 100MW/200MWh facility, to assist grid stability as renewable energy era ramps up, ought to enter service within the second half of 2024.
BESS is the primary section of a mission that may embody the development of a 130MW photo voltaic farm in Meridian, which shares the identical location as Ruakākā within the nation’s North Island.
BESS will embody 80 Intensium Shift battery containers, based mostly on lithium iron phosphate know-how with 40 inverters, 20 medium-voltage energy stations and an influence administration system supplied by third-party suppliers. Saft will combine this tools with Meridian and Transpower 33kV switchgears, SCADA and energy stations.
It will open up a number of new income streams for Meridian, with the power to load shift between worth intervals and take part within the North Island electrical energy market. Meridian expects BESS to generate annual income of as much as US$35 million.
Neal Barclay, CEO of Meridian, stated, “The shared infrastructure supplied by BESS will enhance the economics of future photo voltaic farms.”
