Battery Storage

We are all used to turning a switch and having power instantly available to us. However, the advent and increasingly widespread use of Renewables and Localised Generation means that things have become more complex. Whilst a large amount of Power Generation, particularly from Solar, has been used for generation to supplement the grid and attracted what started out as generous Feed-In Tariffs, organisations are now recognising the benefits of keeping that power for themselves by using appropriate storage facilities and being used to supplement during times of high cost or heavy demand.

Practicalities

It is not that many years since even UPS systems used traditional Lead-Acid batteries and sites such as Data Centres had large rooms on-site containing many hundreds of high maintenance units such as those found in a car. Not only did these carry with them an inherent fire risk, they could also only offer a short term boost, for a few seconds, designed to cover a brief supply outage.

Step forward several years, and most of us carry round at least one substantial battery power pack on our person. The advent of the mobile phone, laptop or other portable computing device and the desire for ever more powerful and compact load provision has led to huge leaps forward in battery technology.

Opportunities

What this now means is that, not only is storage more compact, it also allows for much greater provision of stored power over a much longer period. this in turn makes Battery Storage ideal for Renewable and Localised Generation situations. The most common type is the Lithium-Ion device, able to undertake vast numbers of Charge and Discharge cycles. They are scalable in multiples and the technology for this type of application is very much driven by the leap forward in Electric Vehicles. Motor manufacturers are investing large amounts of capital into these projects and this is not only further enhancing the supply and reducing costs, but also ensuring a readily available route for post-life recycling.

Please contact us with the details of the project you are considering and one of our engineering team will visit the site to carry out a free evaluation.