Voltalia commission battery storage power plant in French Guiana

This power plant will reinforce the Toco storage complex. Located in French Guiana, the Toco complex is one of the largest storage systems in France, with 12.6 MW/16.5 MWh in operation and 0.5 MW/0.6 MWh under construction.

A second battery storage project in the Toco storage complex

Following the Savane des Pères power plant, with its 2.6 MW/2.9 MWh battery storage system backing a 3.8 MW solar power plant, the Toco complex is expanding with the com-missioning of the Mana storage power plant, and its 10 MW/13.6 MWh batteries. Entirely developed by Voltalia, the Toco complex thus becomes one of the largest battery storage sys-tems in operation in France.

An additional 0.5MW/0.6 MWh unit is currently under construction. Thanks to its ac-cumulated expertise and economies of scale, Voltalia plans to continue its strategy of grow-ing the Toco complex with additional units that will be added to the system.

The Mana storage facility is named after the municipality in which it is located. The main winner of a call for projects from the French Energy Regulatory Commission in 2018, Mana Stockage benefits from 10-year remuneration contracts. This project is supported by the Eu-ropean Regional Development Fund.

Why use storage?

Battery storage improves the level of predictability and stability of electricity production. In fact, Mana Stockage is composed of two units meeting two goals:

• the Arbitration unit, which will be managed by EDF and will charge the batteries during off-peak hours to discharge them during peak hours, when the production cost is higher
• the Rapid Reserve unit, which will be capable of releasing additional power to the grid very quickly. It will ensure continuity of supply in the event of problems on the network and, more generally, it will improve the quality of service.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/energy-storage/20112020/voltalia-commission-battery-storage-power-plant-in-french-guiana/