Global Gigawatt-Hour Agreement Ensures Advancion Customers Gain Access
to High Quality, Low-Cost Battery Supply
AES
Energy Storage and LG Chem today announced a multi-year agreement
that provides access to a gigawatt-hour (GWh) of lithium-ion battery
capacity with the option to procure additional capacity for the AES
Advancion® energy storage solution. Utilities, developers,
and power system operators seeking to install storage to lower costs,
improve reliability, and reduce emissions will benefit from the
combination of AES, the leading grid-scale energy storage integrator,
and LG Chem, the leading battery supplier.
The agreement covers the supply of several of LG Chem’s battery modules
that have been designed and configured for AES’ Advancion grid-scale
energy storage solution. The agreement provides access to batteries to
meet the needs of Advancion installations currently under construction
and allows AES to purchase additional batteries to meet the growth for
future Advancion system sales. For reference, 1 GWh of batteries is
capable of powering 250 – 1,000 MW of energy storage installations,
depending on the needs of the customer.
The global grid-scale energy storage sector has entered a new growth
phase, with more than 1,400 MW of advanced energy storage projects
announced or in operation today, compared to less than 60 MW just six
years ago. Navigant Research projects that more than 11 GW of energy
storage capacity will be installed annually by 2020 across 22 countries.
AES previously announced installations for various customers in six
countries totaling 384 MW in operation, construction, or late stage
development, representing the world’s largest fleet.
“We are excited to provide utilities, developers, and businesses access
to high quality batteries at the best prices as part of the complete
Advancion grid storage solution,” said John Zahurancik, President of AES
Energy Storage. “LG Chem is one of our most trusted battery partners and
this agreement provides a new scale of activity to serve announced
projects as well as installations under development by our utility
partners.”
This groundbreaking agreement leverages LG Chem’s manufacturing and
supply chain from the transportation sector and ensures access to the
most cost-effective, high quality batteries available today to supply
Advancion. AES designed Advancion for sale to third party utilities,
independent power producers, and power system operators seeking a proven
and future-proofed energy storage technical platform. Advancion 4, AES’
fourth generation integrated energy storage solution, incorporates
insights from serving utilities globally for more than 30 years and
lessons learned from more than eight years of real world operations of
large-scale, grid-connected battery systems built to serve the needs of
a long-term asset owner. Advancion 4 is the only deployed platform that
enables long-term system performance and degradation management from the
start with a unique system architecture, allowing future upgrades to
take advantage of the best components at the time.
“AES is one of the world’s most experienced and well-respected
integrators of grid-scale energy storage systems, and we are proud to
provide our lithium-ion batteries for their Advancion solution,” said
Ungbeom Lee, President of LG Chem’s Energy Storage Solutions business
unit. “Our agreement provides a roadmap for us to engage most
effectively in the delivery of high performance, reliable and
cost-effective energy storage systems around the world.”
LG Chem has achieved market leadership in the highly competitive market
for HEV and EV battery systems, where product performance, quality,
durability and cost are prerequisites. Battery cells for automotive and
stationary storage systems are manufactured to the same exacting quality
standards at facilities in Korea and the United States. The supply
agreement covers battery modules with configurations ranging from 30
minutes to 4 hours of discharge duration. AES and LG Chem have also
agreed to collaborate on joint development initiatives that will ensure
continued competitiveness of the Advancion product in meeting the
requirements of utilities and system operators around the world.
In 2014, LG Chem was the first of several battery manufacturers to
complete the Advancion Certification process and become a qualified
supplier of batteries for Advancion 4. Subsequently, LG Chem was
selected to provide batteries for three large-scale Advancion arrays,
including the Warrior Run Energy Storage Array that was officially
opened on November 13, 2015.
About AES Energy Storage
AES is a leader in commercial energy storage solutions, which improve
flexibility and reliability of the power system, and provide customers
with a complete alternative to traditional peaking power plants. The
company’s Advancion® 4 energy storage solution is available
for sale to leading utilities, power markets, and independent power
producers, and AES can manage installations from concept to operation
with a market-proven solution that integrates best in class battery and
power conversion technologies. AES introduced the first grid-scale
advanced battery-based energy storage solution in commercial operations
in 2008 and operates the largest fleet of battery-based storage assets
in service today. AES has a total of 384 MW of interconnected energy
storage, equivalent to 768 MW of flexible resource, in operation,
construction or late stage development in six countries. To learn more,
please visit www.aesenergystorage.com
or @aes_es
on Twitter.
About AES
The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) is a Fortune 200 global power company. We
provide affordable, sustainable energy to 18 countries through our
diverse portfolio of distribution businesses as well as thermal and
renewable generation facilities. Our workforce of 18,500 people is
committed to operational excellence and meeting the world’s changing
power needs. Our 2014 revenues were $17 billion and we own and
manage $39 billion in total assets. To learn more, please visit www.aes.com.
Follow AES on Twitter @TheAESCorp.
About LG Chem
LG Chem Ltd. is one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery
manufacturers with significant market share in consumer, automotive and
stationary applications. LG Chem, Ltd. is a globally diversified
chemical company which operates three main business units:
Petrochemicals, IT & Electronic Materials, and Energy Solutions. The
company manufactures a wide range of products, from petrochemical goods
to high-value added plastics, and extends its chemical expertise into
high-tech areas such as electronic materials and rechargeable batteries.
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