Project briefing: Jasper solar power project, South Africa

Battery energy storage systems are placed in increasingly demanding market conditions, providing a wide range of applications. Christoph Birkl, Damien Frost and Adrien Bizeray of Brill Power discuss how to build a battery management system (BMS) that ensures long lifetimes, versatility and availability.

Sometimes called ‘community batteries,’ energy storage systems are being installed at neighbourhood level in Australia. Experts from the Australian National University explain how this type of battery storage can benefit a very wide range of stakeholders.

With over 25 years’ experience as a firefighter and now part of a group that specialises in battery storage safety, Paul Rogers at Energy Safety Response Group knows all about fire safety from both sides of the fence. He tells Andy Colthorpe about some of the pressing issues that need attention.

Crucial to clean power generation, battery energy storage systems need advanced fire protection. Steve Kenny, general manager for Advanced Fire Detection at Honeywell Building Technologies talks about why the detection of off-gases is an important line of defence.

Prior to 2019, there was an ample number of insurers willing to provide renewable energy insurance, leading to plentiful, affordable cover being available for solar power project finance transactions. However, with increased claims and risks, price rises and lower availability of cover is impacting the sector. Duncan Gordon, head of Renewable Energy at specialist energy insurance brokerage and risk management firm Gallagher, provides an overview of how solar power project owners can navigate a challenging insurance market.

With an electricity mix currently dominated by fossil fuels and limited land availability for ground-mounted projects, Singapore is turning to floating PV (FPV) to increase its renewables capacity as it aims for 2GW of deployed solar by 2030.