Samsung SDI supports world's largest ESS projects

By Kang Seung-woo

Samsung SDI has delivered batteries for the world’s largest energy storage system (ESS) project underway in the United States, the firm said Wednesday.

The battery arm of Samsung Group, participating in the massive projects in California with AES Energy Storage and other global partners, completed its delivery of 240 megawatt-hour (MWh) lithium ion batteries for the project last week. Samsung said the 240MWh is equivalent to powering 40,000 households for four hours.

Samsung SDI and AES held an opening ceremony for two ESS facilities in Escondido, Calif., Friday.

The ESS makes use of large-scale batteries to efficiently distribute power by saving energy during the night and using it during the day when demand for power is higher. It also cuts carbon emission.

“A key element of successfully delivering the largest ESS project in the world has been having trusted relationships with our suppliers to ensure a steady supply of quality components for our Advancion platform,” said AES Energy Storage President John Zahurancik.

“We’re pleased to have had Samsung SDI, a certified Advancion supplier for several years, provide batteries to power this record-breaking project.”

Late last year, the Korean company was charged with providing more than 70 percent of the lithium-ion batteries for the 340MWh ESS project aimed at addressing regional power reliability concerns in southern California. It was the world’s largest supply of ESS batteries, the firm said.

According to recent research by Navigant Research, the volume of the U.S. ESS market was 590MWh in 2016, which means Samsung’s recent ESS project volume represents more than 40 percent.

Samsung’s successful delivery to the U.S. market, which is notorious for not condoning any tiny errors, demonstrates its products are gaining global recognition in terms of safety as well as quality.

In addition, it has successfully shortened the period from order to manufacturing, delivery, installation and commissioning, which normally takes a year, but took only four months for the AES facilities.

“With this unprecedented success, Samsung SDI strengthens its position as the No. 1 battery supplier of energy storage solutions in North America through strategic cooperation with key energy and ESS global leaders awarded as part of the lightning speed procurements,” the firm said.

Most market research companies agree the global ESS market is expected to rapidly grow more than sixfold by 2020 with an annual expansion of 60 percent on average.

In particular, the U.S. market is regarded as the pivotal influencer of the worldwide ESS market, with its volume expanding from 590MWh in 2016 to 4.2GWh in 2020.

Such fast growth would be driven by its continuing improvements and modernization needs of the transmission and distribution assets as well as continuous renewable energy expansion.