ESS is designed to the accumulate, store and feed-in the electricity to the grid, as well as maintain the functioning of the power system while ensuring the required quality of electricity. This is the first such project in Ukraine, but energy storage systems are widely used all over the world: the USA, Great Britain, Australia and Canada use such systems to ensure stable quality of electricity and energy security.
«Despite the challenges we face due to the pandemic, DTEK strictly adheres to the schedule: we have already completed the installation of the battery and connected it to the grid. Now, we are carrying out commissioning works. Moreover, we already had a trial testing of the system together with one of contractors in this project, the Canadian company SunGrid», said Emanuele Volpe, DTEK Chief Innovation Officer.
The ESS was installed in Energodar at Zaporizhzhya Power Plant, since there is all the necessary infrastructure for connecting it to the network available as well as qualified personnel who will maintain this system.
«We are glad that DTEK is adopting the best international experience. We have been using energy storage systems in Canada for five years. Our company has many pilot and commercial projects both in Canada and in different states of the USA. I am very pleased to be involved in the launch of the first such technology in Ukraine, » said Jeremy Goertz, Managing Director of SunGrid Solutions (Canada).
According to E.Volpe, with this pilot project, DTEK will not only launch a new energy storage market in Ukraine, but will also make a great contribution to the transformation of the country's energy sector as a whole. However, in order to make energy storage systems fully participate in the energy market, a regulatory environment must be formed.
In July 2020, DTEK signed a contract with the American company Honeywell for the supply of a 1MW/2.25MWh lithium-ion energy storage system.