Spain-based natural gas utilities company Fenosa and Japan's Toshiba are celebrating the commencement of a startup of an electricity grid project in Alcala De Henares.
The aim of the project is to strengthen the electricity grid with Toshiba's Lithum-ion batteries.
The BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) project will also evaluate the potential of batteries as a solution to various challenges in electricity distribution in order to improve the efficiency, security and stability of the network.
The project was inaugurated by Toshiba Technology Executive of Social Infrastructure Company, Kikuo Takagi, and the Managing Directors of Resources and of Regulated Businesses of Gas Natural Fenosa , Rosa Sanz and Antoni Peris.
The BESS demonstration project, which uses Toshiba's lithium-ion batteries to improve the performance of an electric sub-station is situated in Alcala de Henares.
The project is funded by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan (NEDO).
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The ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Alcala de Henares, Javier Rodríguez, and by the Industry Affairs Managing Director of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Carlos Lopez Jimeno.
In order to test the effectiveness of the batteries Toshiba and Gas Natural Fenosa will test the operation of the BESS system, developed by Toshiba, at various points in the distribution network of Union Fenosa Distribution.
This project will also evaluate the effectiveness of the BESS to manage fluctuations in the grid caused by renewable energies. Ultimately, BESS aims to provide a technological solution to help the distribution network to become more stable, efficient and safe.
Toshiba is promoting large-scale use of the BESS system, with its lithium-ion battery technology of advanced SCiBTM technology. This technology offers excellent features: high reliability, long life of over 10,000 charge and discharge cycles and a great capacity and operational effectiveness at low temperatures. These characteristics make the BESS system particularly suitable for operation in distribution networks.
Gas Natural Fenosa is a leading national and international innovation projects in its electricity grid.