Cat batteries help advance the energy transition
We’re taking major steps in the energy transition. Still, we’re unable to offset our green energy at peak times yet, while there is a shortage of energy in certain parts of the grid that makes getting a grid connection impossible. Caterpillar batteries offer a solution in many of these cases.
Grid stabilisation and energy timing
Batteries do much more than just store energy. Caterpillar batteries help match supply and demand in energy. In our efforts, we mainly distinguish between grid stabilisation and energy timing applications. Nico Olsthoorn is Team Lead Engineering Power at Pon Power and explains how these different applications can be useful in storing and using sustainable energy.
Nico: “In terms of grid stabilisation, we’re talking about a scalable, quickly deployable power supply for when power from a renewable source is temporarily unavailable during peak loads. This makes it possible to rely on renewable energy for your business operations; even when the sun or wind is letting you down. A Power Grid Stabilisation module, or PGS module, is a grid stabilisation module.”
“When talking about energy timing, we’re talking about our scalable modules that can store excess energy to be used at another time. This way, at times when the sun shines brightly, you can store the energy to charge your electric vehicle fleet at night. We call these ETS modules; Energy Time Shift.”
“In addition to PGS and ETS modules, we also offer ECE modules; this is about Energy Capacity Expansion, or expanding energy capacity. They are in fact individual modules to increase the storage capacity of ETS modules.”
“Our PGS modules make it possible to rely on renewable energy for your business operations, even when the sun or wind is letting you down.”
In practice
Nico van den Biggelaar, senior account manager energy systems at Pon Power, has plenty of great examples. “We can see market gardeners with large solar fields, who want to charge their trucks at night as well, using their own solar energy. Our ETS modules, linked to fast chargers, are ideally suited for this.”
“No less important,” Nico continues his story, “is the way in which our batteries offer a solution for grid congestion. They play an important role in our microgrids, through which we create self-contained power supplies. Our PGS module is deployed when peak loads require more power than the other sources from the microgrid can supply. In doing so, the PGS module actually fulfils a double role in this, because it also supplies backup power until the emergency power supply kicks in.”
“On the other hand, we also use an ETS module for customers with grid connections of insufficient power. At night, they can take the energy that they can’t get from the grid during the day and store it in the ETS battery. Of course, we always look at more sustainable options first: is there room for solar panels and to what extent can we charge the batteries with sustainable energy at times when the company is not using electricity?”
Grid congestion is playing an increasingly negative role in the energy transition. Grid operators are also taking a more flexible approach in order to avoid problems. Nico: “Power consumption in the Netherlands peaks in the late afternoon and early evening. We can see that customers can get a grid connection, but have to be self-sufficient between 3 pm and 7 pm. Our ETS modules are ideally suited for this as well, as their versatility means they can be adjusted to supply the required power.”
“Our batteries play an important role in our microgrids, creating standalone power supplies.”
Moving forward in the transition
Grid congestion and the intermittent nature of sustainable energy are here to stay, at least for the time being. And this also applies to Caterpillar batteries and the microgrids in which they play a central role. They enable us to use sustainably generated energy more efficiently and advance the energy transition. And the stoppages caused by grid congestion can be resolved by using stored energy. In short: we are moving forward in the energy transition and will continue to do so.
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More information?
Please feel free to contact Nico van den Biggelaar
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