If you prefer to always view the website in English, please click here.
Carboneras Thermal Power Station (Almería)
- Electro Power Systems S.A. will build a 20 MW/11.7 MWh lithium ion battery energy storage system in Endesa’s Carboneras thermal plant (Almeria).
- The storage project, whose investment will total 11.5 million euros, is expected to become operational by June 2018.
- The system is aimed at improving plant flexibility to cover electricity demand around the clock, responding to load fluctuations driven by intermittent energy sources.
Endesa has awarded the construction of a 20MW/11.7 MWh lithium ion battery to Electro Power Systems S.A. (EPS). The agreement with the storage and micro-grid specialist involves the start of construction of the largest battery system installed in Spain, which will allow the Carboneras Plant in Almeria to better serve the requirements of the electricity system, without altering its rate of energy production. The project is scheduled to enter into operation in June 2018.
Endesa will invest over 11.5 million euros in the project that includes, among others, the supply and installation of the battery bank, inverters and step-up transformers and two ancillary plant transformers that have been awarded to ABB.
The Carboneras plant is a baseload thermal power-plant which started operation in 1985. During the last 30 years the plant has been continuously updated to serve the Spanish electricity system. Endesa is investing around 240 million euros in new installations to substantially improve plant efficiency and environmental performances reducing NOx and SO2 emissions, fully complying with European environmental regulations.
The installation of a large energy storage system within the plant aims to make the plant more flexible and improve its response to the load fluctuations in the current electricity system as a result of the intermittency caused by an increased penetration of renewables. The addition of the battery system is also expected to reduce maintenance costs for the plant’s main components and extend their useful life.
Large-scale plan of an energy storage system
The project forms part of the set of initiatives being developed by the Enel Group, Endesa’s parent company, to position itself in this new technology that has great growth potential, given its technical characteristics and its fast response time, together with the drop in costs in relation to this technology.
Enel last May acquired the Tynemouth battery energy storage system (BESS) located in Newcastle, UK, a lithium ion battery with a capacity of 25 MW (12.5 MWh), which is due to be completed at the beginning of 2018.