DOE seeking Chinese expertise on battery storage facilities

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy is seeking the expertise of the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) in deploying battery storage systems to reinforce the country’s transmission network.

The DOE is also set to finalize in September the development of the smart and green grid plan (SGGP), which aims to establish a clear policy and implementation framework for future transmission projects.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said she has asked SGCC to help map out battery storage sites across the country, as the grid struggles to keep up with the influx of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources.

SGCC currently controls 40 percent of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), which operates and maintains the country’s electrical superhighway.

“I basically requested them to help the (NGCP) to figure out where, when and how much battery to put in all places of the transmission system,” Guevara said yesterday at a forum hosted by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A battery storage facility stores excess electricity generated during low-demand periods and supplies it back to the grid during peak demand, ensuring the stability and reliability of the transmission network.

Rowena Cristina Guevara

The technology is expected to support the grid while the country waits for the entry of about 2,000 megawatts of pumped storage hydropower capacity over the next five years, Guevara said.

“In the meantime, while all the VREs are being developed leading up to 2030, we are going to need batteries to help,” said Guevara, who visited China earlier this month.

VREs like solar and wind only generate electricity when the natural resource is available, posing challenges to traditional grids that are not built to handle constant changes in power supply.

In the case of solar, power is produced only when the sun is shining, resulting in overproduction during the day and capacity shortfall at night.

This challenge highlights the need for the development of smart grids, which, according to Guevara, would enable the “seamless integration” of large-scale RE facilities.

As part of the SGGP, Guevara said the government aims to improve grid reliability and resiliency through advanced transmission technologies and smart grid solutions.

In particular, smart grids are envisioned to integrate real-time, artificial intelligence-enabled balancing and dispatch at both the transmission and distribution levels.

“The plan (SGGP) also focuses on connecting remote RE sources to key demand centers by developing new transmission corridors and subsea cables,” the DOE official said.

Started in September 2023, the SGGP development is an initiative by the DOE in partnership with the University of the Philippines, National Transmission Corp. and the United States Agency for International Development.