A new energy storage development centre is providing an innovative modular and flexible testing environment for electric vehicle technologies
A new energy storage development centre is providing an innovative modular and flexible testing environment for electric vehicle technologies.
Energy storage systems are playing an increasingly crucial role in ensuring grid stability and reliability as the uptake of renewable energy sources increases, with REPowerEU foreseeing 72% of power generation coming from renewables by 2030. Energy storage solutions manufacturer Socomec is aiming to support this transition with its new multimillion-euro energy storage development centre near Strasbourg in France.
The Energy Storage System (ESS) Grid Lab will not only develop novel technologies for grid security, resilience and reliability, but will also provide a fully equipped testing environment for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and battery performance.
“The platform is dedicated to energy storage system developments, and is open to our customers for training,” says Flavien Martos, Product Development Manager – Energy Storage Solutions at Socomec. “EV chargers are a booming application, and so we have implemented a dedicated Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) platform on-site with the capacity to work both on and off-grid. The idea is to welcome major players in the EVCI industry to plug their chargers into our system and test them to gather information, provide analysis and deliver crucial insights such as what level of power is needed, or the level of autonomy needed in order to allocate the charger with a battery energy storage system.”
AN ON-SITE MICROGRID
The new 500m2 facility has been built to test the capabilities of a whole range of energy storage projects for customers that would be otherwise unfeasible to safely achieve on real-world networks. On-site generators allow Socomec to simulate grids from across the globe, including different local voltage and frequency types, helping to ensure that the projects its customers are testing will be successful before they are installed in the real world.
The grid lab provides testing through its own microgrid of up to 3MW utilising the company’s scalable energy storage systems, SUNSYS HES XXL and SUNSYS HES L. The dedicated EVCI platform provides real EVs and DC fast-charging infrastructure to replicate real-world scenarios.
“Through the EVCI, we can measure whether the technology is compatible with the grid in terms of infrastructure, energy loss and whether it disturbs the system,” Martos says. “We also focus on performance through maximising capacity and power of the EV chargers. Battery energy storage systems are made up of a lot of different components that must all be compatible with each other and the grid. Then, when you add renewable energies, there are a whole lot of other components to take into consideration when adding in EV chargers and EVs. Our customers need to verify that all these components can work together.”
Many of Socomec’s customers who are using the EVCI platform are software developers looking to optimise their charging points and charging stations. “For these customers, one of the most common tests we do on the platform is checking the compatibility of their software with our system, the grid, and renewable energies, to be sure that the energy is used at its maximum every time, and at the cheapest price,” Martos adds. “So, we need to check that batteries can charge with solar panels when there is a lot of sun, we need to check batteries can charge at night when electricity is less expensive than during the day or peak hours. And, we need to check that the EV can be charged at full power at anytime.”
ANALYSING BATTERY PERFORMANCE
Another important aspect of Socomec’s EVCI grid is battery analysis, to give customers a deeper insight into the performance of their product. “Battery technologies is a continuing activity undertaken by our research and development team,” Martos says. “We analyse various values, temperature, cell voltage – all of the technical details required to maximise the energy the battery delivers. Currently, we are doing this for LFP batteries but in the future we plan to innovate with new battery technologies for greater efficiency and resiliency.”
The company is working hard on developing its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in order to provide more predictive analyses for battery systems, such as potential failures, ageing issues and return on investment (ROI).
“Our goal is to become more and more specialist in our applications, from on and off-grid modes, back-up systems, storage systems and so on,” Martos adds. “We will also continue to test new technologies, and we believe sodium batteries, for instance, will be one of these. We are also planning to integrate more intelligence and AI into the testing process. More than 1MW will be the next big market for battery energy storage systems and for EVs, so mega charging stations for buses and trucks will also become a big area of focus for us over the next year.”
