The technology group Wärtsilä will supply a 5.2 MW / 5.2 MWh energy storage system to provide the frequency regulation in the ancillary service market for the Taiwanese grid as the country seeks to achieve 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. The order was placed in August 2021 by Shangfa Construction who will build the energy storage facility on behalf of North-Star International Co., Ltd.

Taiwan’s state-owned integrated utility, Taiwan Power Company, has opened a day-ahead ancillary service market, including frequency regulation, spinning reserve and supplement reserve services. The advanced Wärtsilä system will allow North-Star International to provide the frequency regulation and spinning reserve services. Frequency regulation will enable the integration of greater levels of renewables, while the Wärtsilä energy storage solution will support frequency stability and enhance the reliability of the system, which are important requirements for industries such as semi-conductor manufacturing.

“North-Star moves actively towards renewable energy solutions, including power generation, EV charging, energy storage, and electricity sales. Our aim is to provide successful integration of renewable energy services. Wärtsilä has strong energy storage systems and extensive global construction experience, as well as complete technology in energy software management, which can shorten the learning curve for us in energy storage. We believe that Wärtsilä’s energy storage system is the perfect choice to provide the needed flexibility and reliability,” commented Eddie Ho, the Vice Chairman and spokesperson of North-Star International Co., Ltd.

“This order represents our first energy storage contract for Taiwan’s competitive market, and is an endorsement of the global acknowledgement of our advanced technology. The system will ensure that a high-quality power supply is maintained through seamlessly integrating renewables into the grid,” said Nicolas Leong, Energy Business Director, North & South East Asia, Wärtsilä.

The Beimen Energy Storage project will be in the city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. It will include Wärtsilä’s Gridsolv Quantum, a fully integrated, modular and compact energy storage system, a Power Conversion System, as well as Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform. GEMS will provide complete energy asset control and optimisation. Wärtsilä will also provide advisory and training services. The Wärtsilä GEMS software is the most mature and advanced control platform on the market.

The system will be operational in late Q1, 2022. Taiwan aims to have 20 percent of its energy from solar and wind power by 2025, which will be augmented with an additional 15 GW of offshore wind power by 2035.