The French electrical engineering group Socomec will present its new outdoor storage system for commercial applications at the E-World in Essen and the EES in Munich this year. While the system is already available on its home market in France, the company now wants to enter the growing German storage market.
Designed for outdoor use
Socomec's storage unit is designed from the outset for outdoor use. In addition, Socomec has focused on safety and flexibility in the development of the system. It is therefore possible to cover outputs of 100 kilowatts and several megawatts with the storage unit. It is also modular in terms of capacity. The basic capacity is 186 kilowatt hours. However, this can be extended into the megawatt hour range by adding further storage modules and cascading several storage cabinets.
Customised design
The storage units are configured according to customer specifications. Depending on whether the commercial enterprise wants to use the storage unit to increase its self-consumption or cut off peak loads, or actually pursue completely different business models such as backup power supply, the system can be designed accordingly. This goes as far as supporting fast-charging stations when grid connection capacity is limited and replacing diesel generators in island grids when these are converted to renewable energies.
Two components
The system consists of two components: The actual battery cabinet and an energy distribution cabinet that integrates it into the energy grid and controls it. The energy distribution cabinets are available - depending on the application - as DC and AC versions. The battery cabinets, in turn, are available in two different sizes. These are kept at the suitable operating temperature of the installed lithium iron phosphate batteries with liquid cooling. These are supplied by CATL.
See also: CATL plans second European battery factory in Hungary
The storage cabinets are also equipped with extensive sensor monitoring of the battery status and are protected against thermal runaway. In case of an emergency, there is actually an integrated self-triggering extinguishing system designed to fight fires in lithium storage tanks. The intrinsic safety of the entire system is certified. (su/mfo)
