“The smart batteries for key government buildings initiative was established to support the installation of battery storage at schools, hospitals and other government buildings with rooftop solar systems.” – NSW Government
Location: Australia
Industry: Government
Project Funding: $20m
Project Scale: 900 BESS installed
Project Website: NSW Government Website
Key outcomes
- Flexibility in control for battery storage
- Avoided vendor lock-in
- Enabled energy demand response, power quality & network services
Scope
The NSW Government sought to trial battery energy storage systems (BESS) in key Government owned buildings to better understand the technical, social, economic and environmental benefits of this technology.
Under leadership of Department of Planning, Industry & Environment (DPIE), Buildings Evolved were engaged to provide a specification for the deployment of batteries in a manner that would avoid vendor lock-in and mandate the use of open communications protocols.
Mid-size battery energy storage installed in NSW Schools.
Open protocols are important to Government in this case to ensure that the investment in BESS at an early stage in product maturity would enable future options to be pursued, as the economic model was still uncertain. Vendors were making claims of ‘peak-lopping’ and arbitrage having a great business case, but the ‘big battery’ and others like it were using capacity markets and FCAS to create a financial return.
Method
Buildings Evolved conducted market research, focusing on the emerging Sunspec modbus standard as being applied to BESS. It was found that vendors were supporting the emerging standard and as such, this option would provide NSW Government with the requisite flexibility for control options in the future without constricting market responses in an adverse manner.
Our team produced procurement documentation for DPIE including schedules, specification, selection criteria. We then assisted DPIE in assessing responses from market.
Batteries installed at Port Macquarie Hospital under the Smart Batteries for Key Government Buildings program.