CMI Energy, a subsidiary of CMI Group, has inaugurated Micro Réseau Intégré Seraing (MiRIS) energy storage plant at the group’s international headquarters, located in Seraing, Belgium.
Image: CMI Energy inaugurates solar, energy storage at its group’s headquarters in Belgium. Photo: Courtesy of Business Wire.
CMI Energy stated that the full-scale pilot project has been installed to demonstrate the integration of intermittent renewable energy resources with battery-based energy storage to produce a fully dispatchable renewable energy resource.
MiRIS includes renewable and energy storage systems. The renewable part includes 2MW or 1.75 GWh/year, photovoltaic system with 6,500 roof top and carport panels. The energy storage part includes a lithium-ion battery system and two different flow battery systems.
The technology interconnects with the building’s electrical network and its DSO 15kV distribution service connection. The existing facility consumes nearly 1.3GWh/year.
CMI Energy President Jean-Michel Gheeraerdts said: “We now have ways to use green energy sources that eradicate their major flaw: intermittent production.
“Energy storage and management can be applied in a number of fields as an alternative to diesel generators for unconnected regions, as a way of deferring investment in parts of the network, as a means of optimizing existing photovoltaic or wind systems, and as an enabler of participation in the primary or secondary reserve markets.”
CMI Energy also stated that the MiRIS project will help in investigating the interoperability of renewables and different energy storage technologies for a wide range of user energy profiles, particularly with respect to renewable energy time shifting and energy resale to the grid.
It is also expected to help in evaluating microgrid ‘islanding’ operation, potential grid ancillary service opportunities and the influence of user demand response.
CMI Energy is an international supplier of HRSGs, industrial boilers and steam generators for concentrated solar power with thermal storage.
The company is part of Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie (CMI), which employs more than 5,500 people worldwide.
Earlier this year, CMI Solar secured a contract for the design and supply of a Molten Salt Solar Receiver (MSSR) for the 50 MWe “Haixi” solar tower in Qinghai province (China).
The contract was awarded by Chinese EPC contractor Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation III (SEPCO III).