Eskom’s new battery storage project – here is what you should know

Eskom has unveiled the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) project in South Africa.

ESKOM’S NEW BATTERY STORAGE PROJECT – HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

The Hex BESS site at Worcester in the Western Cape was officially opened on Friday.

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“The Hex BESS is the first project to be completed under Eskom’s flagship BESS project announced in July 2022 to help alleviate the pressure on the national electricity grid.”Eskom

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HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE PROJECT

The project has specifically been developed:

• to help alleviate the pressure on the national electricity grid, and resolve the ongoing electricity crisis.
• It will add more storage capacity to strengthen the grid while diversifying the existing generation energy mix.
• It uses large-scale utility batteries with a total capacity of 1,440MWh per day and a 60MW PV capacity.
• The Hex site is specifically designed to store 100MWh of energy, enough to power a town such as Mossel Bay or Howick for about five hours.

It forms part of Phase 1 of Eskom’s BESS project which includes the installation of approximately 833MWh additional storage capacity at eight Eskom Distribution substation sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape.

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THE PROJECT CREATED 250 LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS

This phase also includes about 2MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.

The Hex project furthermore benefited the local community of Worcester by employing about 250 local community members, supporting twelve early childhood centers with playground and educational materials, donating computers, and donating five hundred full school uniforms.

According to Eskom other corporate social investment projects are to be executed before the end of March 2024.

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OTHER CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROJECTS WILL BE EXECUTED

“We are pioneering the implementation of the BESS technology, serving as a large-scale commercial project to validate the technology’s feasibility and benefits.

“The successful implementation will pave the way for wider adoption and possible export of the technology to other regions beyond the borders of South Africa,”said Eskom’s General Manager: Distribution, Operations Enablement, Velaphi Ntuli.