AES putting up Asia’s first energy storage in Zambales

MANILA, Philippines – AES Philippines has started construction of its first energy storage facility in Asia.

The plant, which will be the first battery-based energy storage facility in the Philippines, will be located next to the Masinloc power plant in Zambales.

Called the Masinloc Advancion Energy Storage Array, the facility will provide 10 megawatts  of interconnected capacity on the Luzon grid.

The energy storage array will enhance grid reliability by providing fast response ancillary services like frequency regulation. With more efficient balancing of supply and demand, it will also lower costs to consumers, help meet renewables targets, and improve the stability of Luzon’s transmission system.

AES Philippines is a subsidiary of The AES Corp., a Fortune 200 global power company with a diverse portfolio of generation and distribution businesses.  It provides affordable and sustainable energy to 18 countries on four continents.

Across the world, regulators and system operators are increasingly turning to advanced energy storage as a solution for ancillary and other grid services due to its flexibility, speed of response, scalability, and rapidly decreasing costs.

This solution is particularly attractive to island grids that face unique challenges in instantaneously matching supply and demand across a smaller pool of resources.

Energy storage can perform this function more effectively than traditional grid resources, resulting in cost savings and lower emissions system-wide.

Site work in Masinloc will begin by the end of 2015 and is slated for completion by mid-2016.

AES Philippines managing director Neeraj Bhat said energy storage brings significant benefits for customers in the Philippines, which is short on reserve capacity.

The Philippines has increasing levels of variable-output renewable plants, and faces challenges associated with an island-based grid system.

“AES Philippines is pleased to work with key stakeholders including NGCP (National Gris Corporation of the Philippines), the Department of Energy, and the Energy Regulatory Commission to make the Philippines a leader in embracing smart and innovative solutions to meet its customers’ power needs,” Bhat added.

AES is actively developing other battery-based energy storage systems across the Philippines, including a project in Negros Occidental, which would improve the grid’s ability to incorporate the significant volume of renewable generation coming online in the Visayas in 2016.

According to Bhat, the company sent NGCP a very competitive offer to provide frequency regulation services from its Negros project.

“We look forward to working with them on an ancillary services agreement so that the facility can help balance supply and demand on the Visayas grid, especially with all the new solar plants that will start operating in Negros next year,” he said.

The new Masinloc facility will lower costs, reduce system-wide emissions and strengthen the electric grid for the Filipino people.

AES is a recognized world leader in the development and operation of battery-based energy storage.  Globally, AES has 86 MW of energy storage projects in commercial operation and over 300 MW in construction or late stage development.