Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 06 2021

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GRIDS The project is being developed by Nanyang Market Operator (AEMO) and the state
Technological University, Singapore’s Energy government’s policy advisor Energy Policy
Hitachi ABB Power Grids Research Institute and is jointly funded by WA.
Project Symphony is expected to provide
Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA)
does virtual power plant and engineering services company Sembcorp, immediate benefits for Western Power’s
network and pave the way for more innovative
which is also headquartered in the country.
and ‘greener coal mine’ managing director for Singapore, Nirupa use of VPPs across the region’s main electricity
Hitachi ABB Power Grids country
grid.
projects in Southeast Asia Chander, said that Singapore has one of the A$27mn to the two-stage project, with federal
The state government has committed
most reliable electricity networks in the world
Hitachi ABB Power Grids will supply and that the project was a good example of funding being sought for the balance.
battery energy storage and smart controls to how multiple stakeholders from government,
Singapore’s first virtual power plant (VPP), academia, industry and technology providers
on a project aimed at validating methods for “collaborate to deliver innovative solutions
integrating more renewable energy onto the and accelerate the energy transition for a PERFORMANCE
city-state’s electricity networks. greener future”.
The project will help integrate electricity “To meet the carbon emission standards Australia’s AGL forecasts
from different distributed energy resources of the future, Singapore will have to tap on all
(DERs) including solar in a way that simulates renewable energy sources, relying on artificial lower annual core earnings
the workings of a utility-scale power system, intelligence and smart solutions to better
the company said. Hitachi ABB Power Grids coordinate and manage all its energy sources on weak power prices
will provide its Powerstore battery storage efficiently. The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a
technology coupled with the company’s digital key project that will allow efficient modelling Australia’s AGL Energy Ltd AGL.AX
controls platform, called e-mesh. and innovative features of these emerging forecast lower core earnings for fiscal 2021
Virtual power plants which combine large technologies to be validated,” Nanyang on Thursday as falling power prices and an
numbers of distributed assets from behind- Technological University professor Lam Khin outage at a coal-fired plant in New South
the-meter including rooftop solar, battery Yong said. Wales wiped more than a quarter of its half-
storage and other assets like electric vehicles yearly profit.
and smart thermostats to form a much larger, Traditional power retailers in Australia,
aggregated resource that can serve energy such as AGL and Origin Energy ORG.AX,
or power functions on the grid have been VIRTUAL POWER PL ANT have come under pressure due to a slump in
growing in number around the world, with wholesale power prices and government plans
notably large examples already deployed in Virtual power plant to pilot to underwrite new power plants, Reuters
Australia, the US, Japan and elsewhere. reported.
The new project, which began its in Western Australia Syndey-based AGL said it expects
development process a couple of years ago, annual core underlying earnings of between
is however a first for Singapore, which only Project Symphony has been launched to create A$1.59bn and A$1.85bn ($1.23bn-$1.43bn),
got its first large-scale battery storage system an over 500 household and business virtual compared with A$2.07bn a year earlier.
last year, a 2.4MW / 2.4MWh energy storage power plant in suburban Perth. Its underlying profit, which omits one-off
system (ESS) installed by Wärtsilä in a project The A$35mn ($27mn) project is to be items, came in at A$317mn for the six months
supported by the Singapore Energy Market deployed in the Perth suburb of Southern to Dec. 31, compared with A$432mn a year
Authority (EMA). River, where more than half of households ago. RBC had estimated a figure of A$275mn.
The battery storage and controls will have rooftop solar installations. “Our 1H21 result reflects the sharp decline
balance variable generation from DERs with More than 500 households and businesses in wholesale prices for electricity and large-
“smart and dynamic loads”, the company are expected to participate. The aim is to scale renewable certificates over recent times,”
said in a press release. A representative told demonstrate how large numbers of rooftop Chief Executive Officer Brett Redman said in
Energy-Storage.news that details of storage solar panels, batteries and large appliances a statement.
output and capacity, or of the distributed such as air conditioners and electric hot water AGL, Australia’s top power producer,
energy resources to be integrated, could not systems can be coordinated into a virtual booked a statutory loss after tax of A$2.29bn,
be revealed at this time. power plant (VPP). hurt by a one-off charge of A$2.69 due to
The Hitachi ABB Power Grids “Project Symphony will pave the way for writedowns of previously signed wind energy
representative did say in a brief statement Western Australians to access more energy contracts and the dour outlook for power
that the e-mesh Powerstore combination is options,” said Energy Minister Bill Johnston at prices.
“a scalable microgrids and energy storage the launch. It declared an ordinary interim dividend
solution that is designed to ensure reliable “Using virtual power plants means there is of 31 Australian cents per share and a special
power availability, grid stability, highest less of a need for traditional generation assets, dividend of 10 Australian cents.
possible penetration of renewable energy such as coal or gas, which is a step towards a The company left its fiscal 2021 underlying
together with an intelligent control system for more sustainable power system. It will lay the profit outlook unchanged at A$500mn to
both grid-connected and off-grid systems”. groundwork for a future where household A$580mn, having slashed it in December after
“This project demonstrates the innovation energy devices help keep the power system the outage at its coal-fired Liddell plant.
driving entirely new approaches to stable, enabling more and more renewable
electrification. VPPs are a flexible, reliable energy on the grid.”
addition to the infrastructure already in place The project is being developed by the
to shift to even more renewable sources of state energy companies Western Power and FINANCE
energy,” the representative said. Synergy together with the Australian Energy

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