Innergex Renewable Energy has awarded Mitsubishi Power an order for two utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects for its Emerald storage solution totaling 425 megawatt-hours (MWh) in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile. These projects will be colocated with existing solar photovoltaic facilities and shift the renewable energy to hours of greater need by storing solar energy during the day and dispatching at night. The five-hour energy duration BESS projects are scheduled to come online in 2023.
Both projects will employ Mitsubishi Power’s Emerald Integrated Plant Controller, which is an Energy Management System (EMS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system with real-time BESS operation and a monitoring/supervisory control platform. For added safety, both projects use lithium iron phosphate “LFP) battery chemistry. Compared with other chemistries, LFP provides longer life and superior thermal and chemical stability, while meeting UL 9540 and UL 9540A safety standards.