35 pv mag 8-15 s. 67

Storage & Smart Grids
Otto Preiss, MD of ABB's Power Conversion business, has a deep
understanding of solar inverters, PV charging and the importance of storage
technologies. ABB has a long history of integrating storage into electricity
networks, and with three key battery cell partnerships, Preiss believes the
company is set for a powerful role in the storage space.
o
o
E
"lntermittency
won't be an issue
in the futu re"
Interview: ABB's MD of power conversion Otto Preiss has
seen the growing importance of storage technologies, and
believes the company is set to play a powerful role in the
storage space.
What do you make of the battery storage matket at present?
Otto Preiss: On the PV side, we see residential storage quickly
evolving. Looking at Germany and Italy, there is a need today
of around 20,000 to 30,000 units [per annum], ranging from
2 kWh to 6 kwh. We believe that by 2018 10% of the global residential
solar business will involve storage as an integral part of
what is being offered to the market. That's a large opportunity
when you consider 3070 of the PV market is residential.
What is ABß doingto engage with this space?
ABB has always been in energy storage in the commerciai segment
up to utility scale.
Up to now ABB has supplied around 130 MW of batterybased
energy storage for more than 70 projects. This includes
everything from a 250 kW unit, up to 42 MW for 15 minutes
in Alaska. For an installation of this size, which was installed
back in 2002, the technology was lead acid and was about the
size ofa gym hall filled with batteries. This installation generally
provides the service that a spinning reserve would provide
for a remote location. However, in the many projects done so
far, ABB has worked with various battery technologies, keeping
our focus on the power electronics.
This year, in the context of solar, we have been promoting our
residential storage unit called React. We are targeting the residential
consumer who is interested in running his or her home
from a battery which is charged either by solar or from the grid.
That battery provides a controlled deferral ofthe solar energy
supply, so the homeowner sees a significant improvement of
their home's energy independence and the optimization of PV
power self-consumption.
When is React [to be between 3.6 kW and 4.6 kW in capacityl
being released into the market?
It is currently being beta tested because we want to make sure
that it can be [operated] across many hours in different environmental
contexts. Ifall the beta tests go according to plan then
React will be released later this year.
Does ABB have expertise in battery cell technolog itself?
Battery chemistry never was a core technology at ABB, aithough
we ofcourse understand the overall system. In general, but particularly
for home applications, we want to have an optimal
price and the best safety standards available today. These are
found in the automotive industry. So we decided to team up
with Panasonic for the battery celis as they have the expertise
from the automotive business. Moving to the next steP up covering
micro-grid projects, ABB is working on integrated battery
technology to provide the power electronics. In this space
we partner with Samsung. And on large-scale grid solutions,
ABB has a partnership with BYD.
What was the process for deciding against going into battery
cell technology?
This goes back some time. I was running the related corporate
research activities at ABB, so I know it well. When ABB was
thinking about going into battery cell technology we asked ourselves'Where
does ABB want to play?'We believed that there
was still quite a lot of development coming in the battery cell
category. So the decision was to focus on the areas in which ABB
was strong - power electronics, management systems and grid
integration - while developing strategic partnerships with the
companies that are strong in battery cell technology. So we took
a conscious decision not to get into battery technology as such.
Some are describing the growth of storage as being solar's
time to arrive. What role can storage play in this evolution?
Storage can help to eliminate or at least mitigate misconceptions
about the availability of renewables. Whenever we talk
about renewables, the intermittency of supply is always considered
a major issue. This assumption is often overused to argue
that renewables will never fly. The existence and deployment of
storage technologies can demonstrate that there should not be a
misuse of threatening scenarios - either about the need for grid
extensions or to idle large numbers of fossil power plants. I
lnterview by Pv magazine staff
pvmagazine 08/2015 |