The BESS is the first stage of a project that will include the construction of a 130 MW solar farm by Meridian Energy.
Saft is providing a fully integrated solution for the Ruakākā BESS, including the supply of batteries and power conversion equipment, installation, commissioning, and 20 years of operational services. Scheduled to come online in the second half of 2024, the BESS will have a storage capacity of 200 megawatt-hours (MWh) to support local grid demand for approximately two hours.
This versatile North Island asset will open multiple new revenue streams for Meridian, with the ability to shift electricity consumption to a different time frame and participate in the North Island standby electricity market. Meridian anticipates that the BESS will deliver annual revenue of up to $35 million (USD).
Meridian Energy CEO Neal Barclay said: “As intermittent renewable energy generation increases in New Zealand, this BESS will help manage supply fluctuations and reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels. We have a bold vision for Ruakākā, with a grid-scale solar farm planned to further accelerate our transition to a low-carbon economy. The shared infrastructure provided by the BESS will significantly improve the economics of the future solar farm.”
The complete energy storage system supplied by Saft will include 80 Intensium Shift battery containers, based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology, with 40 Freemaq PCSK GEN3 inverters, 20 medium-voltage power plants, and an energy management system provided by third-party vendors. Saft will integrate this equipment with 33kV Meridian and Transpower switchgear, SCADA, and a power plant.
The 3 MWh Intensium Shift containers, suitable for energy timing, peak, and capacity support applications, are scalable building blocks. They can be installed in alignment with energy conversion equipment with a 50% smaller system footprint, while reducing site-related activities by 50%, enabling faster deployment of utility-scale storage plants.
Intensium-Shift containers benefit from Saft's safety concept with a unique combination of proven safety devices, such as fire suppression systems and explosion panels. The containers are fully assembled in Saft's factories using a modular approach, incorporating batteries, thermal systems, and digital control interfaces that connect to Saft's cloud-based I-Sight data platform. This data management solution ensures real-time remote monitoring of system KPIs and enables optimized asset utilization with minimal OPEX and downtime.
Saft works closely with customers, providing technical expertise and support from project inception and engineering, through implementation and commissioning to end-of-life, decommissioning and container recycling
