Fluence Energy, Inc. has released Ultrastack, an advanced energy storage product designed to transform the way transmission and distribution networks operate by addressing some of the challenges created by the energy transition, such as weakening system stability, network infrastructure congestion, and low visibility into distributed assets. To support this energy transition, Bloomberg NEF estimates that the annual global investments into power grids will increase from $274 billion in 2022 to nearly $871 billion in the 2040s, reaching$21.4 trillion by 2050.
Ultrastack unlocks the power of battery-based energy storage for transmission network owners and operators. The product provides patent-pending controls applications that deliver network utilization and system stabilization services, including synthetic inertia and power oscillation damping. These advanced applications have been developed by power system engineers with a deep understanding of transmission system operations. Ultrastack also offers more than 99% system uptime to meet the high asset availability requirements of critical infrastructure.
S&P Global forecasts that 17 GW / 50 GWh of energy storage systems will be deployed globally by 2030 to enhance or defer investment into upgrading existing electricity network infrastructure. Continued investment in advanced storage technologies and applications will be vital to achieving this rapid growth.
“Electricity system operators are facing significant reliability and congestion challenges as power demand increases, network infrastructure requirements change, and grids transition away from power sources with synchronous generators to inverter based renewable generation,” said Fluence SVP and Chief Product Officer Rebecca Boll. "Together, we are building the grid of the future, with several storage-as-a-transmission asset (SATA) projects already contracted or being delivered by Fluence.”
Fluence’s first SATA pilot project was deployed in 2021 by Litgrid, the transmission system operator (TSO) in Lithuania. The award-winning pilot project was the first of its kind in the Baltics, and one of the first globally, that used a grid-scale energy storage system on the transmission network. It served as a proof-of-concept for storage being an integral part of the power transmission network and maintaining grid stability and reliability through emergency power, frequency and voltage control, and synthetic inertia response. The pilot project’s successful completion has been followed by the ongoing rollout of four 50 MW/50 MWh SATA projects in Lithuania with a combined rated output and capacity of 200 MW / 200 MWh. The portfolio of energy storage assets supports Lithuania in establishing a synchronous interconnection with the Continental Europe electric grid, increasing energy security in the whole Baltic region.
In Germany, Fluence is currently in the process of supplying TransnetBW, the TSO in the state of Baden-Württemberg, with battery-based energy storage for one of the world’s largest SATA projects. The 250 MW Netzbooster (Grid Booster) project will improve energy security and significantly support Germany’s energy transition pathway. This will be achieved by increasing the efficiency of the existing grid infrastructure and easing congestions by providing backup capacity to maintain power system stability in the event of network failure.
Battery-based energy storage not only realizes economic savings by reducing costs for congestion management and allowing more renewable energy to be integrated into power grids, but it can also lower costs for consumers if the asset is used to provide market-based energy and ancillary services. These socioeconomic benefits were confirmed in a recently released two-part study developed by Consentec, a German-based consultancy.
