Battery Energy Storage in PH Made Possible by SMC-ABB Partnership

San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) energy investment arm, SMC Global Power Holding Corp., has entered into a partnership with the Zürich-based multinational firm ABB to accomplish its deployment of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects across the country.

ABB is set to install 20-megawatt (MW) BESS facilities in two of SMC’s project sites this year after winning a multi-million dollar contract, the firm said in a statement. More sites will be added by 2022.

“ABB will support two 20MW sites which will be installed by June 2021, with a further 40MW site in July 2021. The remaining sites will be completed in 2022,” explained ABB.

Throughout the course of its partnership with San Miguel, ABB will be using its proprietary software platform ABB Ability™ Zenon “to act as the intuitive interface to BESS” allowing users “to make real-time decisions based on grid parameters to ensure performance sustainability.”

The firm plans to use an integrated combination of energy storage modules and power distribution “to satisfy the complicated needs of the scheme and ensure easy and quick installation, ABB developed a complete solution that uses standardized building blocks that are scalable and modular.”

“Pioneering solutions, like the one in the Philippines, will ensure that grids are more stable and will satisfy the reliability challenges associated with moving to a stronger mix of renewables,” said ABB Distribution Solutions Division president Alessandro Palin.

Furthermore, ABB noted that these projects “will support the Philippines’ ambitious plans to build a more sustainable future for its communities, by decarbonizing energy generation and ensuring that 54-percent of its energy mix comes from renewables by 2040.”

Source: Manila Bulletin