It is one of the most committed countries to the development of renewable energies and, undoubtedly, one of the strategic markets for the sector. The trend experienced by Australia has not gone unnoticed by the companies that make up Gransolar Group, which are benefiting from the synergies created between them to consolidate their position in the country. It is the case of E22 and GRSwhich have formed a great pairing in their commitment to storage. Fernando Plaza, Lead Application Engineer of the former, and Javier García Sánchez, Head of Project Development of the latter, give more details in an interview with Hamilton Locke.
From a development point of view, [en Australia]there is a huge need for batteries due to the rapid rise in electricity demand. The reliance on electricity as both a source and a product of renewable energy largely exceeds what the conventional grid structure is built to handle. While the grid upgrades are now coming, batteries offer an excellent tool to help facilitate that transition to meet current demand”, they explain.
Advantages of an EPC company
Gransolar experts emphasize that storage must be driven by favourable regulation and increased investment, which requires minimizing risks and relying on companies already established in the market such as GRS, a leading solar EPC company. “We know the most important players in the industry and feel well positioned to move into battery storage development through E22,” they state.
They both consider the possibility of undertaking projects from the beginning till the end as an advantage from a technical point of view due to the vertical integration of the group’s business units.“Having control of any given project from the very beginning is tremendously useful and provides a significant advantage. (…) It gives investors a sense of certainty that is often lacking elsewhere in the market,” they continue.
Finally, Fernando Plaza and Javier García analyze the different technologies currently being developed in the energy storage sector and discuss the advantages of lithium batteries, the most widely used at the moment, and the benefits of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), about which they say that “clients need to be educated”.
