Will emergence of smart grid stimulate a smarter alliance between Energy Conversion & Energy Storage Industries

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by CHARLES FERNANDEZ
A MAJOR energy showcase is at work. One of the
nation’s largest Building Integrated Photovoltaic
(BIPV) project using 149kWp solar panels on
rooftop carpark was commissioned in January 2014
by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) wholly owned sub-
sidiary TNB Energy Services Sdn Bhd (TNBES). Its
success will create a domino-effect with more
projects in the pipeline.
The BIPV project at the TNB headquarters in Ja-
lan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, generates energy from
the solar PV for self-consumption within TNB
headquarters, through its connectivity with the
TNB system via the existing building electrical sys-
tem infrastructure. The project supports the Ma-
laysian government policy target of generating
985MW of its total energy needs from Renewable
Energy (RE) sources.
The energy generated from this system if used
to power up, could generate electricity for about
100 units of terrace houses with current average
electricity bills of under RM100 per month per
household.
By installing the system, one will get a set
amount for each electricity generated, measured in
kilowatt hour or kWh. The rates vary depending on
the size of the system, technology applied and
when the technology was installed.
TNBES MD Mohd Azhar Abdul Rahman said
the project is a milestone for the company and the
accumulatedenergygeneratedtodateis59,455kWh
with 41 tonnes of CO2 avoidance.
“We have done other RE projects. The BIPV
rooftop carpark is a showcase project started in
July 2013 and the first of its kind in the country,’’
he said, in an interview attended also by TNB
head of renewable and green energy, Dr Ahmad
Jaafar Abd Hamid.
The other projects by TNBES include a 24kWp
BIPV solar panel at the rooftop of TNB 2 Sentral
Building, Solar Hybrid System in Sabah and se-
veral remote areas especially Orang Asli settle-
ments and islands in Peninsular Malaysia. A
250kWp project is also in the pipeline at the TNB
Distribution Kepong office building.
While setting its sights on domestic dominance,
TNBES is venturing into the regional and Middle
East markets by 2015, according to earlier reports
by The Malaysian Reserve.
However, the company’s immediate priority is to
strengthen its domestic presence as the solution
provider in green energy, secure smart partner-
ships with domestic green energy industry players
and Green Energy Research Centre, and acquire
technological know-how.
Meanwhile, Mohd Azhar said credit must also
be given to those who were personally involved in
the project until it was fully commissioned in the
third-quarter of January this year.
“We have an experienced team of engineers
and technical personnel who were involved in the
design and the system integration of the project
which also included the TNB 2 Sentral Building
project which was carried out concurrently,” he
added.
Mohd Azhar said he initially headed the design
team at conceptualisation stage, while now the en-
tire project is being supervised by project manager
Johari Jalldin under TNBES project department.
In addition, TNBES also specialises in providing
quality and reliable energy solutions to its custo-
mers and aside from RE, their energy consultancy
packages are for energy efficiency power quality
and power system study as well as feasibility study
and end-to-end services.
TNB powers up HQ’s rooftop carpark
by Amit Kumar Singh
Energy storage and energy conversion
industries have found a market space which
is considered to be part of a mega-trend, with
the potential to provide a sustainable grid
system in the long run.
Smart grid is fast evolving to impact a wide
horizon of the society positively and therefore
it calls for the participation of a diverse range
of power systems industries.
Having identified the potential of the
emerging applications in the utility sector,
Schneider Electric has struck an alliance with
energy storage solution provider Saft Batteries
to develop power solutions for smart grid
application. This association comes in the
wake of fast evolution of smart grid across
the globe and energy conversion and energy
storage becoming an integral part of the
smart grid infrastructure.
Smart Grid Application Evolving
There are many factors contributing to the
evolution of smart grid application across
economies, such as increased renewable
energy integration in the grid, penetration of
electrical vehicle and technological
advancement in electrical storage systems.
While the various technological components
areevolving,utilityandtransmissioncompanies
are trying to improve their energy mix with
higher contribution from renewable energy and
making the system more efficient through
developing a smart grid road-map and
implementation plan.
Utility companies are collaborating with
independent power companies to develop
smart energy management solutions that
majorly encompass energy storage systems
(ESS) and energy conversion. The proponents
of smart grid are trying to integrate
distributed ESS and renewable energy
sources with the grid connected ESS.
Positive Attitude of Govts Towards
Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency
Many countries and local governments are
taking on leadership roles to act on the national
priority to make the grid smarter.
Every government’s major concern is
facilitatingandenablingacleanenergyeconomy
by promoting the incorporation of various
components such as renewable energy,
distributed energy resources, electric vehicles,
and electric storage.
Energy conversion will play a crucial role in
integrating the network efficiently and
effectively. The policies are being framed to
define and provide a scope for the development
of smart-grid solutions to cope with the 21st
century clean energy challenges.
Emerging countries such as Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are
strongly promoting the smart grid concept
through the development of national
roadmaps.
Policies Driving Smart Grid Investments
Effective government policies, though differing
from country to country, are influencing the
stakeholders in this market space and therefore
triggering the smart grid investments across
various sections of the electric grid in order to
make the whole system more efficient and user
interactive.
The scope of the projects being planned and
executed varies but the essential elements of such
projects focused towards smart grid include some
common drivers, such as conducive regulations,
carbon emissions, renewable technology,
evolutioninenergystorageandenergyconversion
technologies, all leading to energy independence
and a more sustainable society.
For instance, the deployment of advanced
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
systems with two-way communication channels
by the Singapore grid can certainly be looked
upon as a stepping stone towards making the
grid smarter. To develop new applications
around smart grid, the Energy Market Authority
of Singapore initiated a pilot project on smart
grid test programme, the Intelligent Energy
System.
Australia has incorporated smart grid policy
as an integral part of the larger efforts at
increasing renewable energy sources in the
overall energy strategy and hence reducing CO2
emissions. A Mandatory Renewable Energy
Target of 45,000MW or 20% of Australia’s
electricitysupplyisalreadydrivingtherenewable
energy market to meet the target by 2020.
Value Chain Evolving to Cater to Needs
of Emerging-market Space
Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is gaining
its significance in the evolution of smart grid
andPowerconvertersgointoDERasanenabling
technology for Grid Integration of energy
storage elements in each DER.
Opportunities abound for the vendors of both
energy storage and energy conversion
technologies to carve a niche in the new market
space by offering customised solutions for DER
applications.
The collaboration of the two component
suppliers will facilitate the integration of the two
most viable energy sources, wind and solar.
Energy conversion technologies and compact
energy storage devices will be the key to success.
This emerging application trend will create a
ground for restructuring of the industry to take
place, in order to become more effective in
creating marketable power solutions.
Major Industry Innovators/Proponents
Collaborating with Stakeholders
Schneider Electric, being one of the major
proponent in smart power solutions for smart
grid, aims at grabbing a quick slice of the pie in
the emerging-market space by developing a
combined power conversion and battery storage
solutions, which can make the renewable power
generation and other onsite power generation
resources more efficient and make a more
robust and flexible backup power supply
system.
Samsung SDI joined hands with Berlin-based
power control Systems Co, Younicos in August
2013 to supply mega-watt scale grid connected
Li-ion batteries for RE integration. Such alliances
will help the vendors develop smart grid-ready
energy storage and management systems.
The evolution of the value chains in the form
of associations of energy conversion and energy
storage industries will certainly pave the way
for growth of the industry as a whole.
Both the industries are witnessing a fast
movement of the technologies and technology
integration will be the biggest challenge in order
tomakethesmartgridsolutionsmorecompatible
and cost effective. The utility market will be
looking for the most viable business proposals
from the vendors so that they can build an
attractive business case for smart grid
investments.
The trend will be instigating the smart grid
proponents at various levels of the value chain
to go ahead and have business friendly alliances
with their counterparts to create the desired
value propositions.
As the smart grid infrastructure is in the
process of building up, a number of pilot projects
incorporating alternate energy storage and
energy conversion technologies are expected to
crop up going forward, which in turn, will
certainly stimulate smarter alliances.
Amit Kumar Singh is an energy and
environment research analyst with Frost
& Sullivan Asia Pacific.
Will emergence of smart grid stimulate a smarter alliance
between energy conversion and energy storage industries?
One of the largest of its kind in the country, claims TNBES
(From left) Mohd Azhar, Dr Ahmad Jaafar and Johari during an interview session with the media about Growth
Global Green with Energy Solar in Kuala Lumpur
A L L B U S I N E S S D A I L Y
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