Integrated Solar-Clean Energy Microgrid to Power Finland Industrial District

Last edited: June 28, 2018 @ 09:44 PM ET Solar energy will be a central feature of a hybrid, industrial-district microgrid in Finland. Incorporating fuel cells, combined heat and power (CHP) and battery energy storage, as well as locally produced biogas and solar power in an environmentally friendly, smart microgrid, the LEMENE project is designed to provide all the energy businesses in the industrial area need, as well as participate in various electricity markets. Slated to come online next summer, the LEMENE project illustrates utilities and industrial companies’ growing interest in capitalizing on local solar and other, emissions-free, renewable energy resources. It’s also a leading example of systems thinking as applied to wide-area, industrial-scale, clean energy production and distribution.

The project has been singled out by the Finnish government as a key project that will help meet Finland’s national energy “decarbonization” targets. Finnish utility Lempäälän Energia Oy recently awarded Siemens the contract to design and engineer the medium-voltage microgrid and associated grid automation and energy storage systems

Lempäälän Energia’s LEMENE industrial renewable energy microgrid

According to the project plan, two solar power fields consisting of more than 15,000 PV panels will produce an estimated 3,600 megawatt-hours of clean, emissions-free electrical energy. The project design also calls for six gas-fueled motors and fuel cells that will provide both heat and power for businesses in the industrial district. “The project uses the latest microgrid technology solutions to balance and secure energy production in the area,” explained Thomas Zimmermann, CEO Digital Grids at Siemens Energy Management.

The combination of advanced control, distributed grid architecture and assets in form of microgrids will ensure the grid is operated as reliably, resiliently, and efficiently as possible.

That includes Siemens’ SICAM Microgrid Controller, which will continuously monitor and manage energy production, storage and distribution, including “blackout protection.” Siemens will also install its EnergyIP DEMS, which aggregates decentralized energy and delivers any surplus for utility-grid ancillary services, such as voltage or frequency control, or to trade on the intraday electricity market. Convion is supplying two of its C50 fuel cell systems to Lempäälän Energia as part of the project. Manufactured by Elcogen, the two, “next generation,” solid-oxide fuel cell stacks will form the core of the Lemne project’s CHP systems. Fueled by biogas, the fuel cells will produce heat and a maximum of 116 kilowatts (kW) of electrical power for use by businesses in the Marjamäki industrial district.

100 percent clean energy at an industrial scale

“This key renewable energy project will serve as an exceptional opportunity to explore how a larger scale smart grid functions in conjunction with the current electricity market, while generating 100 per cent renewable power from solar and biogas sources,” said Elcogen CEO Enn Õunpuu. Elcogen manufactures the “next generation,” solid-oxide fuel cells that will be used in the project. More than 100 businesses are up and running on the 300 hectare (741 acre) Marjamäki industrial district project site at present. That number is expected to increase as 30 hectares are up for sale and development.

The LEMENE microgrid is to meet the electrical energy needs of all them, and do so in a way that is cost-effective, as well as more reliable, resilient and environmentally friendly than conventional alternatives. While the microgrid will be connected to and function as part of Lempäälän Energia’s broader utility grid, it will be able to disconnect from it and continue to supply energy to industrial-area facilities in the event of utility grid outages. “Our goal is to create an energy community with decentralized generation of renewable energy,” said Lempäälän Energia Oy CEO Toni Laakso. “This involves ensuring the security of supply of the energy community and ensuring its functionality at all times. Automation plays an important role in the energy community, since it ensures the system’s performance.” As the utility describes the project: “The LEMENE smart grid system will be powered by a 4 megawatt solar photovoltaic array, gas engines and a battery to deliver a secure and reliable power supply, ensuring energy self-sufficiency for the industrial district of Marjamäki, in south-western Finland.” The project plan actually calls for two, 2 megavolt-amp batteries to be installed. Two fuel cells – around 120 kW combined capacity – are also to be deployed, Laakso explained in an interview. “Battery storage has been one of the main drivers from the beginning of the project,” Laakso told Solar Magazine.

A remarkable solar energy resource

Laakso described the solar energy resource at the project site as “remarkable.” He explained that gas, split about evenly between renewable biogas as well as conventional natural gas, will be used to produce power according to price optimization rules built into the microgrid system’s controller, as well as system-wide generation needs. Looking ahead, the utility is looking to add methane from local, renewable biogas production sources, he added. Lempäälän Energia expects the system to yield energy savings for industrial-commercial consumers. Energy efficiency is enhanced as generation is nearby end-use which minimizes transmission-distribution losses. Automation and demand response mechanisms whereby energy usage can be minimized according to consumers’ needs at any particular time will add to the savings expected. At the end of the day, customers will pay about the same for greener, more reliable, resilient and efficient energy as they do now, Laakso said. In addition, uncertainty regarding energy costs is significantly reduced, as is volatility. The LEMENE industrial-district microgrid will also benefit Finland’s national grid and carbon emissions reduction goals, Laakso pointed out. Able to lower end-user demand via demand response technology reduces the need to invest in new power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, he explained. LEMENE will participate in TSO Finland’s reserve power markets by taking advantage of the system’s demand response capacity and surplus energy from batteries and gas generators. Siemens’ Decentralized Energy Management System enables the system to provide reserve power to the market. Coupled with Siemens’ microgrid controller, Lempäälän Energia will be able to optimize loads and generation to meet end-user needs and participate in the reserve power market, Laakso explained.

A model for sustainable, industrial renewable energy systems to come

The LEMENE project is one of 11 key renewable energy-new technology projects identified by the Finnish government as models capable of helping meet the country’s national greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and the 2030 targets set by the European Union.

Finland Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government is calling on Finland’s businesses and citizens to increase use of renewable energy to more than 50 percent of electricity demand during the 2020s, as well as raise energy self-sufficiency to more than 55 percent.

Finland’s Ministry of Employment and Economics provided €4.7 million to carry out the project, about 34 percent of estimated total project costs, Laakso explained. Utilities and industrial companies around the world are increasingly joining to carry out integrated distributed solar and clean energy projects along the lines of Lempäälän Energia’s Lemne project. Alinta recently deployed the largest, industrial lithium-ion battery-based energy storage system in Australia. Partnering with EPC contractor UGL Pty, advanced LiB energy storage manufacturer and systems integrator Kokam and microgrid control systems provider ABB Australia, the 30MW/11.4MW LiBESS has been purpose-designed and integrated with 178MW of open-cycle, natural gas turbine power generation to deliver high-power electrical energy to one, possibly more, iron ore mining operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. “The utility-scale natural gas generation-LiBESS power platform is able to respond practically instantaneously to changing generation and operating conditions. That’s primarily due to installation of Kokam’s UHP NMC (Ultra High Power Nickel Manganese Cobalt) BESS,” according to a news report. “Designed to provide high power energy for short periods, the advanced UHP NMC-based BESS serves as a more efficient and less costly source of spinning reserve capacity, which enhances the reliability and overall quality of energy services Alinta delivers to mining operations via the Newman Power Station.” Alinta is considering adding solar power generation to the platform. Mining companies, in turn, are increasingly turning to on-site, integrated solar energy-battery-based energy storage systems to enhance energy reliability and resiliency while reducing emissions and the negative environmental impacts of their operations. Some 943 megawatts (MW) of renewable power generation capacity is up and running on mining sites worldwide, and more is on the way, according to a recently released research report from the Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) Sunshine for Mines program.

“[R]enewables for mines is now firmly established as a critical market segment for the global renewable energy industry. Industry experts predict continued growth for this sector as mines face increasing carbon exposure and energy cost pressures,” the program managers’ say.

Solar Gardens Take Root in Australia

Solar Gardens could sprout in cities around the world over the next few years as increased funding cultivates fertile minds to examine new alternatives for accessible renewable energy. Picture a cityscape dotted with artificial sunflowers, their discs an array of small photovoltaic cells surrounded by a bright burst of yellow petals. Plant plots of these sunflowers across big cities and you help change the landscape from brutal brickwork to bright beauty - a technological transformation that would warm the heart of Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Yes, it’s a flight of fancy. But when science and art are brought together to create function and form, anything is possible.

The word “garden” conjures up images of green spaces but in reality, a solar garden is simply a solar array in which consumers can buy or lease panels.

Their popularity is not based on aesthetics but on their use as an innovative community-based solution for people who do not own the roof over their own head.

Sowing the seeds

Solar gardens appeal to those who rent, live in apartments or in low income housing where they do not have access to the potential cost-cutting benefits of rooftop solar generation. It also allows low income earners to buy into a solar garden, with the electricity generated credited to the customer’s energy bill - an appealing concept for billions of people around the world - from Singapore to Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Sydney and New York. An increasingly popular power generation alternative in the United States, solar gardens are now taking root in Australia. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced funding for a study on solar gardens which could allow a third of Australia’s 24 million people who rent, live in apartments or live in low income housing to access the benefits of rooftop solar. ARENA is providing $240,000 to the University of Technology Sydney’s Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF) to undertake the study. With an overall cost of $555,000, the solar garden project will bring together energy retailers, councils, community energy agencies, social welfare groups and the NSW Government to examine the viability of a solar garden in five potential locations - Blacktown in western Sydney, Swan Hill in northwest Victoria, Townsville in North Queensland, Shoalhaven and Byron Bay in New South Wales.

Renters in the dark

“Solar gardens have been popular in the US, with the fast growing market seeing 200MW of shared solar gardens already in operation,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht. “Almost a third of Australians are unable to put solar on their roofs because they are renting, live in apartments or live in low income housing. Solar gardens give consumers the benefits of rooftop solar, even if you don’t have a roof available to put it on,” Mr Frischknecht said. “While over 1.8 million households (in Australia) now enjoy the benefits of cheap solar power, unfortunately not every household owns a sunny roof suitable for solar panels,” said ISF Research Associate and Director of Community Power Agency Nicky Ison. Backgrounding renewable energy uptake in Australia and supporting the concept of solar gardens and community-sharing, an increasing number of Australians are renting rather than owning their own home, according to the 2016 Australian Census, while renters are paying more, with median household weekly rent jumping from $285 to $335. While the percentage of those renting only increased slightly over the period, from 29.6 per cent to 30.9 per cent, home ownership declined from 32.1 per cent in 2011 to 31 per cent, reflecting an overall fall in home ownership of more than 10 per cent over the past 25 years. The percentage of Australian households which are now paying more than 30 per cent of income in rent has also increased, rising from 10.4 per cent to 11.5 per cent.

Fertile ground

Falling home ownership and rising rent costs have produced fertile ground for the emergence of solar gardens and other energy sharing enterprises like Sydney-based SunTenants.

SunTenants was established by Dr Bjorn Sturmberg, a University of Sydney physicist who was funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agencyto research the improvement of solar cell efficiency. Dr Sturmberg initiated the first installation of a solar/storage facility in an Australian apartment, the award-winning Stucco Co-operative, which supplies cheap power to forty low-income residents, effectively halving their electricity bills. SunTenants says the success of the Stucco project “highlighted the inequality of the rising number of renters, locked out of the solar revolution sweeping across Australia’s owner-occupier properties”.

Skyrocketing prices

“This exclusion is holding back Australia’s transition to a sustainable future and leaves tenants exposed to skyrocketing electricity prices that are driving soaring levels of energy poverty.” SunTenants rewards both tenants and landlords for installing a solar system on the property by paying the tenants for consuming the power and the landlords for installing the system. The tenants have lower electricity bills and the landlord improves the value of their property, with the solar installation generating a monthly reward for the investment. In the US, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been encouraging the uptake of community solar generation, with solar gardens sprouting in Colorado, California, Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

Renewvia Launches Phase One of Its Africa, Solar-Storage Microgrid Initiative

Last updated: March 27, 2018 @ 04:30 AM PST A new generation of emissions-free, distributed energy systems are being installed in homes and businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa, changing the face and nature of rural electrification, as well as models of international and socioeconomic development. Off-grid, smart-metered solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and inverters integrated with battery energy storage systems are now powering energy efficient LED lighting and direct current (DC) household devices and appliances across Sub-Saharan Africa. Coupled with widely available and widely popular mobile e-payments services, these “pay as you go” solar energy services are bringing the benefits of safe, affordable, reliable and efficient clean energy to rural towns and villages that have never known them. A growing roster of innovative, entrepreneurial start-ups and young, mobile pay-go solar companies have been attracting private equity and corporate venture capital, and more recently debt financing from banks, giving them the wherewithal to expand from East to West Africa south of the Sahara and beyond. Deployment of community “solar plus storage” microgrids, equipped with secondary, back-up diesel generation where viable, holds the promise of potentially more efficient and effective means of rural electrification and sustainable development. Having carried out a rural microgrid feasibility study for the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the USAID-led Power Africa program last year, Atlanta, Georgia-based Renewvia Energy has commenced building three out of a planned 13 community “solar plus storage” microgrids in remote, off-grid areas of Kenya.

A solar Africa vision

Having installed 70 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity in six countries, Renewvia has built an enviable reputation as a leading, international builder and developer of solar PV and solar PV-battery energy storage systems for commercial and industrial companies. Anticipating the phase-out of the US federal solar investment tax credit (ITC), management in 2013 decided to begin exploring new business opportunities where the combination of solar energy resources and market economics made projects viable without subsidies, CEO Trey Jarrard explained in an interview. That led Renewvia to take a closer look at Sub-Saharan Africa, where multi-lateral sustainable energy and international development banks and agencies have been partnering with local and international solar energy and clean tech entrepreneurs and startups and helping them acquire the capacity to offer mobile, pay-go solar and mini/microgrid services to poorly served and off-grid areas of the continent. The search led to a connection with USTDA, which hired Renewvia to carry out an Africa microgrid feasibility study. Producing the feasibility study for USTDA, in turn, led Renewvia to launch its Africa Microgrid Initiative, enter the Kenyan market and initiate its strategic plan by deploying 13 off-grid, pay-go community solar-storage microgrids across the country. Stretching from islands in Lake Victoria to island and mainland communities along Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, Renewvia expects its solar microgrid network will connect as many as 4,000 homes and businesses to clean, reliable and affordable energy services by the end of this year..

“Conducting solar feasibility studies at this level provided our company specific and unique insight otherwise unobtainable in any commercial manner,” Jarrard stated for a press release. “The knowledge from the effort will allow for a scalable, off-grid power solution for multitudes of Kenyan communities without requiring large upfront purchases and ongoing power asset management associated with individual solar kits.” Renewvia’s taking a larger scale, microgrid systems approach to the market distinguishes the company from most other companies in the field, which focus on selling solar-storage systems, LED lighting and energy efficient DC devices and appliances for households and small businesses. Similarly, Renewvia pay-go systems architecture differs from those of mobile, pay-go solar systems vendors.

Household vs. community solar

Solar microgrids for areas that have not and will not be serviced by conventional central power sources benefit residential and commercial entities in the same manner. [as do mobile, pay-go household systems]. Microgrids will bring the first reliable, affordable and scalable source of power without a large upfront investment.

In contrast to household, mobile pay-go systems, customers avoid “the risk of managing assets as one would be required if purchasing a solar kit for their business or home,” however. Furthermore, community solar microgrids can scale with individual customers’ and communities’ needs, Jarrard pointed out. “The individual can simply buy more power as it is needed when it is needed as opposed to being forced to buying more equipment.” With community solar microgrids, individuals “can simply buy more power as it is needed when it is needed as opposed to being forced to buying more equipment.”

One of Renewvia’s rural electrification projects in Kenya. | Credit: Renewvia

Jarrard also pointed out that home solar kits are susceptible to breakage and damage, as well non-performance. “If an individual adds an appliance or two that requires more power with a kit, they would be required to start the economical obligation again,” he elaborated.

The economics behind community solar microgrids are exponentially superior than solar kit ‘pay as you go’. Lastly, a community microgrid can scale with the community. The microgrid can enlarge in [generation] capacity and storage [capacity] as businesses expand, subscribers increase and individual household demand increases.

Solar energy as a keystone of sustainable development

Multilateral development agencies and international development specialists are eager to see what, and how much, in the way of broader-based, sustainable development benefits the rapid growth of mobile pay-go solar and community solar-storage microgrids convey. For its part, Renewvia has been devoting a significant amount of company resources to hire and train Kenyans, as well as working with multilateral development agencies, domestic banks and energy market regulatory authorities, and international private equity and institutional investors so as to take the budding market and industry ecosystem to a higher level. In addition, Jarrard pointed out the substantial improvements distributed, local solar energy and energy storage technology are conveying to local residents. “Health benefits are the most substantial for the areas we are serving due to the prevalence of solid fuel use and [associated] emissions,” Jarrard said. “There are high levels of respiratory conditions in these areas due to consistent inhalation of kerosene and charcoal. There also are vision problems from kerosene fumes.” Jarrard also noted that installation of solar-storage mini- and microgrids in off-grid communities is relieving stress and strain on households when it comes to having ready supplies of freshwater. Solar-powered water pumps eliminate the laborious task of hand carrying water from the nearest source – which can take hours each day and is typically done by children and/or women. That, in turn, leaves household members a substantial amount of time to see to other matters.

Looking out over the longer term, Renewvia has much more ambitious solar-storage microgrid development plans. It is in the process of raising capital to finance the first phase of its Africa Microgrid Initiative, which entails building out 42 community, solar-storage microgrids across Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. In preparation, the company has been acquiring and securing access to sites, reaching out to communities and regulators, identifying local partners, completing economic feasibility studies and carrying out social and environmental impact assessments, according to its Phase 1 project development agenda.

“Renewvia feels strongly that we must act to solve this global energy access challenge. With Africa’s rich solar potential, reduction in solar costs, increased government support and investor interest, and advances in risk management technology, we have all the tools necessary,” management writes in its Africa Microgrid Initiative documentation. “Through AMI, we have built a pipeline of shovel ready projects across numerous countries in Africa, have an active network of local partners, and strong relationships with communities and regulators.” All told, Renewvia projects that the 42 community microgrids will serve an estimated 12,651 residential and 3,991 commercial customers. When it comes to returns on investment, management estimates a return on equity (ROE) of between 16-25 percent per annum over the 20-year lifecycle of the microgrids depending on the actual mix of debt and equity associated with project development.