The power generated from the project will be used to power the air conditioning for the project's office and storage units
Image: Dr Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abdulla Balalaa, Director, Real Estate Development and Design at Masdar, Jonas Eklind CEO at Azelio. Photo: courtesy of Azelio.
Swedish solar power company Azelio has entered into an agreement with Masdar-based Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and Khalifa University of Science and Technology to run a pilot project evaluating new technology in power storage.
Located at the Masdar City campus of Khalifa University, the pilot will be installed within the site of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC) – a research center. The electricity produced from the project will be used to power the air conditioning for the project’s office and storage units.
The project’s objective is to test and demonstrate Azelio’s Stirling engine systems and integrated thermal energy storage (TES) platform for renewable energy projects that use photovoltaic solar, concentrated solar power (CSP) and wind energy, or projects that provide off-grid solutions.
The clean-tech pilot will be carried to determine if the technology can be included in current and future renewable energy projects.
Masdar executive director of sustainable real estate Yousef Baselaib, said: “With Masdar City established as the natural home for innovation in sustainable urban development and clean technologies, we are delighted to be working with Azelio and Khalifa University to help validate the commercial feasibility of their project.”
Khalifa University of Science and Technology’s executive vice president Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi said: “We are delighted to partner with Azelio and Masdar to evaluate the Stirling system with integrated energy storage. We believe the pilot phases will provide adequate data that will help Azelio’s technology to target large and exposed segments in terms of access to energy.”
Testing work will begin in 2020
The testing work of the pilot project will begin with an evaluation of Azelio’s Stirling engine system for renewable power production in fall 2019, and will be followed by an analysis of the complete system, including the Tes, during the first half of next year.
Khalifa University will offer the research support and expertise for the two testing periods of the project.
The data collected during the testing periods will be compared with data from existing dispatchable technologies.