GE sees strong interest in battery storage

GENERAL Electric Co. (GE), the US-based multinational company, is looking to pilot an energy battery storage project in the region with a capacity of 4 megawatt (MW)-hour, while continuing to look for opportunities in renewable energy projects, its local head said.

“We’re seeing increasing interest in battery storage,” J.V. Emmanuel A. de Dios, chief executive officer of General Electric Philippines, Inc. told reporters in an informal gathering in Makati City on Tuesday.

He said the interest is across the region, including the Philippines. He also mentioned Australia as possibly among the countries piloting the project.

“We’re looking to pilot energy battery storage at 4 MW-hour. It’s containerized lithium ion… It’s 4 MW for one hour or 1 MW for four hours,” Mr. De Dios said about the stored power of the pilot project.

Aside from battery storage, Mr. De Dios said the company was also looking at hydroelectric power projects in the Philippines, specifically pumped storage.

Pumped-storage power plants store water from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher one, and releasing stored water through turbines to produce electricity.

Mr. De Dios said GE has more than 25% of the installed global hydro capacity at 320-gigawatts (GW).

On pumped storage power (PSP), GE’s equipment solutions enable start-up time from idle to full load at 60 seconds for up to 500 MW, Mr. De Dios said.

“We have the world’s largest installed base of PSP in operation and under construction equipped with GE technology at 48 GW,” he said.

Mr. De Dios said GE Philippines is generally keen on participating in renewable energy projects by providing the relevant equipment.

He previously said that GE Philippines’ push into renewable energy was in line with the looming threat of climate change, requiring sustainability to be at the forefront of concerns when it comes to servicing the country’s power needs.

“The increased generation from geothermal, hydro, and solar resources has lessened the country’s dependency on fossil fuels,” Mr. De Dios had said. “Now, more than ever, the country is open to new ideas and solutions to produce more reliable, sustainable, and affordable electricity.” —