Enel Green Power : EGP's Storage Innovates (Also) Wind Power

It's the first plant of its kind in Italy, but it's not the first for Enel Green Power. EGP's energy storage system integrated into the Potenza Pietragalla wind farm in Basilicata, Italy, which was unveiled in early November, is an important step forward for the entire technological supply chain, not only in the wind power industry, but in the field of renewables in general. Storage will allow a better integration of renewable sources into the distribution system while reducing the limit of efficient generation related to the programmability of these sources.

EGP is testing storage systems both at wind and solar plants. 'We are thrilled to have also combined this storage technology with a wind farm, after the success of the solar PV plant in Catania ', said Enel Green Power's Head of Innovation and Sustainability Riccardo Amoroso at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Basilicata. 'For our company, the active integration of renewables is essential for development in this field. Technologically advanced storage systems like this one will make it possible to successfully limit intermittency and manage the reduced programmability of some sources, ensuring the network's stability and facilitating its management'.

The storage facility at Potenza Pietragalla (of 2MW/2MWh) is the first to use the lithium-ion SDI Samsung technology that ensures an extremely high performance. In fact, it returns the stored electricity almost in its entirety. Additionally, it allows achieving the high capacity levels required for the storage system to rapidly respond to variations in the energy generated by the wind farm.

Storage systems are an increasingly strategic technology, capable of compensating for the non-programmability of renewable plants, and they guarantee the services required for the stability and safety of the electricity system. Among the available storage solutions, electro-chemical accumulators (batteries), thanks to their versatile use and modularity, make it possible to meet various needs of the electricity system, both regarding generators (deferred feeding of the generated energy or energy shift) and network operators (uniform feeding or peak leveling and intermittency reduction of non-programmable sources or peak shaving). The size of storage systems can vary from a few kW, as is the case for domestic applications, to dozens of MW for systems connected to the transmission grid, while their capacity can range from dozens of seconds (power intensive application) to dozens of hours (energy intensive application).

EGP's goal is to also transfer the know-how it has gained in Italy with the storage systems in Catania and Potenza to its other plants abroad, with applications that vary according to specific business contexts and possibilities. The company is researching the possibility of introducing storage systems in Europe (Romania, Spain), Latin America (Chile, Mexico, Peru) and North America, as well as in other areas of the world in which EGP is already present or has ongoing business development activities (South Africa, Kenya).