Mitsubishi Heavy develops containerized large-scale Li-ion energy storage system
16 June 2011
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., (MHI), has developed Japan’s first cargo container-type large-capacity energy storage system using Li-ion batteries. The system is capable of providing power of up to one megawatts (MW), and its mobility makes the system suitable for a wide range of applications, including emergency use. The actual system has been installed at the Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works of MHI in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, to begin verification testing for a power stabilization system application from early July towards the commercialization of the system.
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| Japan’s first container-type large-capacity energy storage system using lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Click to enlarge. |
The container-type “megawatt-class large-capacity energy storage system (ESS)” consists of a 40ft-long container unit, which houses more than 2,000 units of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, and a 20ft-long container unit, in which two power conditioners are installed. Power conditioners are used for direct current (DC)/alternating current (AC) conversion and their input/output control. Each container unit can be moved by container trailers. The system has a capacity of 408 kWh and is designed to have a system efficiency of 90%.
The power storage system is capable of providing electricity for some 100 households for three to eight hours. By using multiple units of the system, power output can be increased to the level of several tens of thousands of kilowatts.
The system installed for verification testing in Nagasaki is currently being adjusted towards an in-plant electric-load leveling test. Testing will be conducted envisaging such cases as short-cycle conditioning to level fluctuations of electricity generated, including power produced by wind power and solar cells, and medium- and long-cycle conditioning for a period of several hours. It will also test the system for a micro-grid application to enable a stable supply of electricity by storing power from renewable energy, for the use in the areas where connections to regular power transmission/distribution grids are difficult.
"The system is capable of providing power of up to one megawatts (MW), and its mobility makes the system suitable for a wide range of applications, including emergency use." big battery.
Posted by: kelly | 16 June 2011 at 05:22 AM
For comparison, the battery in the Tesla roadster can put out 0.22 megawatts, so the power density of the container battery is low.
Posted by: clett | 16 June 2011 at 05:56 AM
The system has a capacity of 408 kWh
That's only 7 Tesla roadster batteries. Seems rather large to me for such a small capacity.
Posted by: Arne | 16 June 2011 at 05:56 AM
408 kWh
That is 15 EVs or 50 PHEVs or 400 HEVs, seems like a waste of good cells when a UPS genset and a smaller amount of batteries would do just fine.
Posted by: SJC | 16 June 2011 at 11:44 AM
Would make a handy addition to a CHP system as you wouldn't need to load follow quite so quickly. If CHP only needed to supply average loads and not peak loads it could be sized a lot smaller.
I wonder if Toyota could lauch a CHP system which used the same components as the Prius.
You'd only need one motor and could get rid of the eCVT, make some adjustments to allow it to run on pipeline gas and package it with the battery and some thermal storage and it could meet the needs of several households
Posted by: 3PeaceSweet | 16 June 2011 at 01:43 PM
Perhaps it could be compared to the NGK system with various values. NGK says that lithium systems cost eight times as much as their sodium-sulphur systems. They are also twice the weight and twice the size. The lithium units have only two-thirds the life and have higher internal losses.
Yes they would be good companions to CHP systems; especially the Capstone turbine ones that have their own inverters. But so would almost any battery system. Even nickel-iron units are being used more and more because they have a life of a hundred years even. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 17 June 2011 at 12:35 PM
Altairnano has a 1.8 MW system, it is portable like this one.
http://www.altairnano.com/Profiles/Investor/Investor.asp?BzID=546&from=dl&ID=107038&myID=107038&L=i&Validate=3&I=
Posted by: SJC | 17 June 2011 at 10:35 PM