Land scarcity inspires ‘floating’ energy storage in the Dominican Republic

Conceptual image of the Siemens SCC-800 platform. Including the SGT-800 gas turbine. Image: Siemens.

The Dominican Republic will build a natural gas-fired power plant that floats on water and is equipped with a battery energy storage system provided by Fluence.

Transcontinental Capital Corporation, a Bermuda-based independent power producer and subsidiary of multinational group Seaboard, has ordered a barge-based power station from German engineering firm Siemens and Singapore-based ST engineering.

Should available land be in short supply, a floating solution was chosen, and Siemens says the project would be less expensive than a facility built on land. The concept has already been proven with Seafloat, a demonstration and modelling project at the shipyard.

Transcontinental already operates diesel power stations on barges, but the latest, Estrella del Mar III, will run a combined cycle natural gas power station with a capacity of 145MW. Siemens is providing the machinery, with ST Engineering taking on the EPC work, integrating the balance of plant equipment and completing the installation.

Within the gas-fired power station, Siemens will integrate SIESTART, the company’s hybrid solution suite that combines fossil fuel generators with a battery energy storage system (BESS). Technology supplier Fluence, effectively a joint venture between Siemens and AES Corp.’s energy storage division, will provide the battery system portion of the project.

In addition to two Siemens gas turbines and a steam turbine, a 5MW/10MWh battery system will be put into operation, enabling it to perform frequency regulation applications and operate the hybrid power plant system "at full load with maximum fuel efficiency," Siemens said.

“We’ve seen that during last year’s hurricanes, when AES Dominicana’s energy storage system helped prevent widespread blackouts, providing flexibility and resilient energy storage to the DR and its grid,” said Ismario Gonzalez, Fluence’s managing director for Latin America.

“Offshore facilities add a new innovation – the ability to build hybrid power projects where land is scarce and at a lower cost.”

The project, located off the coast of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, is expected to be completed and put into operation in the spring of 2021. Siemens said that this project and other similar projects can provide a variety of applications. It can serve as a base load energy generator, provide backup power for disasters and emergencies, and can help desalination plants provide clean water.

The floating platform solution is mobile, designed to be as small as possible, and can be built and assembled in a shipyard, using equipment and processes that Siemens says have been standardized to reduce construction lead times. Ismario Gonzalez of Fluence also added that the battery could enable future applications and opportunities in the Dominican Republic.

“(Customer) Seaboard also has a long-term view on the project and will procure a two-hour energy storage system to not only provide frequency regulation services in the short term, but also open the door to additional services for customers as the regulatory environment changes.”

(Original source: Energy Storage News New Energy Network Comprehensive)