Saft demonstrates the advantage of “behind-the-meter” solar energy storage system for the EXKAL industrial plant in Spain

EXKAL, a leading company in sales of commercial refrigeration cabinets in Spain and a key supplier for the refrigeration and retail sectors in Europe and around the world with a wide range of refrigeration chambers and food display units, installed as part of the European project STORY, two energy storage systems (ESS for its acronym in English) of Li-ion Saft Intensium® Mini ‘behind-the-meter’, with the aim of increasing the operational efficiency of the existing photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in its manufacturing plant in Marcilla, Navarra (Spain).

Saft storage systems, which were manufactured at the Saft Li-ion specialized factory in Jacksonville, Florida, have been installed by EXKAL as part of the European project STORY H2020, which aims to demonstrate new energy storage technologies and their benefits in the distribution systems, involving 18 partner institutions in eight European countries. The objective is to analyze and improve the use of distributed energy generation, so that dependence on the distribution network can be reduced.

CENER (National Renewable Energy Center) partner of the project, among other tasks is the technologist of the Spanish demonstrator, EXKAL, in whose plant the project has been developed with the technical direction of GREEN RENOVABLES.

EXKAL already had an existing solar photovoltaic installation of 112.70 kWp installed on the roof of the factory for instantaneous self-consumption. The incorporation of Saft’s Li-ion energy storage systems, together with an energy management system developed by CENER, has allowed it to adapt to a storage facility.

The energy storage system of EXKAL came into operation in April 2017. Saft installs these systems, Intensium® Mini E, with the aim of providing the maximum support to reduce the electricity peaks and thus increase the self-consumption of solar energy and storage Flexible power to meet the requirements of the local network code, with a capacity of 50 kW of power and 200 kWh of energy.

Intensium® Mini is a fully integrated, modular, compact and robust outdoor energy storage system. It is based on Saft Synerion® Li-ion modules that guarantee high operational reliability for thousands of cycles with excellent energy efficiency. This ESS offers a wide range of energy and power combinations suitable for the integration of renewable, industrial and commercial facilities, public services and micro-grid applications.

The energy storage system is helping to achieve a 20 percent reduction in the maximum energy demand of the local network along with greater self-consumption of solar energy. According to estimates, EXKAL may be saving about 8% on its energy bills in the first year of system operation.

By means of a storage system, optimally sized based on an analysis of the historical energy consumption profiles of the plant, and in combination with a dynamic energy management system, developed by CENER, EXKAL is able to minimize the amount of energy demanded from the network and thus maximize the use of its own renewable generation resources.

“This application is a great opportunity to demonstrate that the storage of energy in industrial applications ‘behind-the-meter’ is a reality that has already arrived and will change our future”, says Clemente López Gilardi, consultant and installer of energy of GREEN RENOVABLES responsible for the EXKAL Project.