Not a lamp or TV flickered, and the Christmas lights went on shining. The 7,500 inhabitants of Bordesholm did not notice a thing when their power supply was completely switched over to renewable energy. Last weekend, Bordesholm became the first ever town in Germany to be disconnected from the utility grid and supplied exclusively with renewable energy for an hour, before being discreetly reconnected to the transmission line. The power supply was enabled by a 10 MW storage system and the Sunny Central Storage battery inverters from SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA).
“This successful trial is an important milestone in the energy transition,”said Boris Wolff, Executive Vice President Business Unit Large-Scale and Storage Solutions at SMA. “It demonstrated that renewable energies can supply power without impacting system stability. In fact, our Sunny Central Storage battery inverters and SMA Hybrid Controller supply the island grid with even greater stability and power quality than the utility grid.”
“The disconnection, the island grid operation, and the re-synchronization with the utility grid went without a hitch,” said SMA system development engineer Paul Robert Stankat, who was on site at the trial. “The storage system supplied the town’s entire electricity demand which could thus be supplied exclusively from renewable energies.”
In addition to a grid formation function, the SMA battery inverters are also equipped with an optional “black start” function, which allows the entire electricity supply to be restarted after a power outage. If the trial had been unsuccessful, the residents of Bordesholm would have had their power restored within just a few minutes.
Bordesholm is a pioneer in energy security - also from exclusively renewable sources
“The trial was an impressive demonstration of how it is already possible and economically profitable to systematically expand renewables along with the required storage capacities without endangering supply reliability whatsoever,” said Frank Günther, managing director of the Bordesholm utilities company. “We have been pushing this nationwide pioneering project forward for many years. Now we have proven that a 100% renewable energy supply is both reliable and economically efficient. This makes our municipality a pioneer throughout Europe for energy reliability. We have been able to show that system stability can also be achieved with renewables only.”
Background
In Bordesholm in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany a 10-megawatt storage system with a capacity of 15 megawatt hours and provided by project developer Renewable Energy Systems (RES) entered service in early 2019. Its main job is to deliver a primary operating reserve, supplies electricity for direct marketing and it is also designed to safeguard the power supply in the event of a grid failure. SMA supplied a coordinated system solution for the project comprising Sunny Central Storage battery inverters and an SMA Hybrid Controller XL equipped with stand-alone mode, black start and synchronization functions.
Disclaimer:
This press release serves only as information and does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for, acquire, hold or sell any securities of SMA Solar Technology AG (the “Company”) or any present or future subsidiary of the Company (together with the Company, the “SMA Group”) nor should it form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract to purchase or subscribe for any securities in the Company or any member of the SMA Group or commitment whatsoever. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
This press release can contain future-oriented statements. Future-oriented statements are statements which do not describe facts of the past. They also include statements about our assumptions and expectations. These statements are based on plans, estimations and forecasts which the Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA or company) has available at this time. Future-oriented statements are therefore only valid on the day on which they are made. Future-oriented statements by nature contain risks and elements of uncertainty. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors can lead to considerable differences between the actual results, the financial position, the development or the performance of the corporation and the estimates given here. These factors include those which SMA has discussed in published reports. These reports are available on the SMA website at www.SMA.de. The company accepts no obligation whatsoever to update these future-oriented statements or to adjust them to future events or developments.
“This successful trial is an important milestone in the energy transition,”said Boris Wolff, Executive Vice President Business Unit Large-Scale and Storage Solutions at SMA. “It demonstrated that renewable energies can supply power without impacting system stability. In fact, our Sunny Central Storage battery inverters and SMA Hybrid Controller supply the island grid with even greater stability and power quality than the utility grid.”
“The disconnection, the island grid operation, and the re-synchronization with the utility grid went without a hitch,” said SMA system development engineer Paul Robert Stankat, who was on site at the trial. “The storage system supplied the town’s entire electricity demand which could thus be supplied exclusively from renewable energies.”
In addition to a grid formation function, the SMA battery inverters are also equipped with an optional “black start” function, which allows the entire electricity supply to be restarted after a power outage. If the trial had been unsuccessful, the residents of Bordesholm would have had their power restored within just a few minutes.
Bordesholm is a pioneer in energy security - also from exclusively renewable sources
“The trial was an impressive demonstration of how it is already possible and economically profitable to systematically expand renewables along with the required storage capacities without endangering supply reliability whatsoever,” said Frank Günther, managing director of the Bordesholm utilities company. “We have been pushing this nationwide pioneering project forward for many years. Now we have proven that a 100% renewable energy supply is both reliable and economically efficient. This makes our municipality a pioneer throughout Europe for energy reliability. We have been able to show that system stability can also be achieved with renewables only.”
Background
In Bordesholm in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany a 10-megawatt storage system with a capacity of 15 megawatt hours and provided by project developer Renewable Energy Systems (RES) entered service in early 2019. Its main job is to deliver a primary operating reserve, supplies electricity for direct marketing and it is also designed to safeguard the power supply in the event of a grid failure. SMA supplied a coordinated system solution for the project comprising Sunny Central Storage battery inverters and an SMA Hybrid Controller XL equipped with stand-alone mode, black start and synchronization functions.
Disclaimer:
This press release serves only as information and does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for, acquire, hold or sell any securities of SMA Solar Technology AG (the “Company”) or any present or future subsidiary of the Company (together with the Company, the “SMA Group”) nor should it form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract to purchase or subscribe for any securities in the Company or any member of the SMA Group or commitment whatsoever. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
This press release can contain future-oriented statements. Future-oriented statements are statements which do not describe facts of the past. They also include statements about our assumptions and expectations. These statements are based on plans, estimations and forecasts which the Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA or company) has available at this time. Future-oriented statements are therefore only valid on the day on which they are made. Future-oriented statements by nature contain risks and elements of uncertainty. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors can lead to considerable differences between the actual results, the financial position, the development or the performance of the corporation and the estimates given here. These factors include those which SMA has discussed in published reports. These reports are available on the SMA website at www.SMA.de. The company accepts no obligation whatsoever to update these future-oriented statements or to adjust them to future events or developments.
