SMC unit to complete BESS network in January

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP), the energy arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., is poised to complete by early next year one of the largest integrated battery storage networks in the world.

SMGP is developing a total of 32 battery storage stations nationwide, with a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW).

“We are close to reaching 1,000 MW. I think we’ll meet the target next month,” SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang said.

SMGP’s battery storage stations constitute the first and largest network of their kind in the country and rank among the world’s largest integrated battery storage networks.

The project is part of the San Miguel Group’s aggressive medium-term goal for power system decarbonization and resilience.

When completed, SMGP expects the BESS business to make a significant contribution to its revenues.

Ang said the company would consider expanding the group’s BESS network “if there is a demand.”

But the batteries we have built have really been a big help. Because of them, brownouts are almost gone because they stabilize the system,” Ang said.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be used to bridge the energy security gap by storing excess energy when it is available, and releasing it when demand is high.

Ang earlier said that BESS facilities would support the country’s power grid by storing excess power from existing plants, and injecting this power back, when and where it is needed, thereby ensuring power quality is stable and it reaches users all over the country.

He said the BESS network could likewise enable the integration of capacity from small-to-medium scale renewable energy sources into the grid, and help encourage more investments in renewables in the future.

BESS technology, which enables the storage of energy both from renewable and non- renewable sources, was pioneered in the Philippines in 2016 by what is now SMC’s Masinloc power facility.