EnSync Energy announces entry into African markets with micro utility project
EnSync, Inc a developer of innovative distributed energy resources has announced its entry into the rapidly growing African microgrid market through the sale of a project that will deliver electricity to an East African village.
With no utility or supporting infrastructure in the area, this microgrid will independently provide energy for a community that currently has no electricity.
The planned microgrid consists of a 180-kW photovoltaic (PV) system, a 112-kWh energy storage system, power electronics to integrate and optimize energy sources to meet demand and energy management software.
The non-PV components of the system are all housed in an EnSync Energy DER SuperModule™, a fully integrated and self-contained DER system. The project was sold to a buyer who will sell electricity to village residents via the microgrid, essentially serving as the area micro-utility.
EnSync Energy's modular technologies and analytic capabilities meet the complexities of the burgeoning microgrid market in African countries, where energy demand is growing rapidly, but traditional electricity infrastructure is often lacking.
The continent as a whole is projected to contain 35,000 microgrids by 2021 that will serve as key electricity providers to millions of people who currently lack access.
"The DER SuperModule enables rapid commissioning of an advanced microgrid, significantly reducing project construction schedule and cost," said Dan Nordloh, executive vice president of EnSync Energy. "The system offers simplicity, while also mitigating the risks associated with integrating multiple distributed energy resources. Our customer was looking for a way to serve as the utility, selling affordable and reliable electricity to remote villages on a mobile phone-based payment platform," Nordloh said. "We are proud that our integrated system was chosen to meet these high demands."
EnSync Energy's project engineers modeled the village's initial expected energy load to appropriately size the microgrid's solar and storage components.
The resulting micro-utility configuration will remain flexible through the SuperModule's supporting technologies – the Matrix™ Energy Management System and DER Flex™ software – EnSync's Internet of Energy platform that connects all power resources and optimizes performance based on variables such as demand and weather conditions.
"Our ability to deliver micro-utility systems to Africa and other electricity-challenged regions demonstrates our transformational leadership in the utility market, which is shifting towards distributed energy resource-based generation and distribution," said Brad Hansen, chief executive officer of EnSync Energy. "With our integrated DER SuperModule systems and project design and execution expertise, we look forward to further expansion in additional markets in the years to come."
The new system in East Africa, to be commissioned this spring, will initially use less than the entire capacity of the DER SuperModule, allowing for more load from other local customers and nearby villages to be added as the customer base expands.
