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SPECIAL FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY - COMMITTEE CONTENT
BATTERY STORAGE FOR ASIA
Battery Storage
for Asia
Economic energy storage is one of the key technologies to develop
and accelerate the achievement of goals for a net-zero world. Jeff
Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk have all added energy storage to
the list of technologies to conquer. In this article the BritCham
Energy and Utilities Committee review the sector.
Tim Rockell
Managing Director and
Founder, EnergyStrat Asia Pte
Ltd, Consultant for KPMG, and
Chair, BritCham Energy and
Utilities Committee
Storage is a dynamic sector and de-
veloping solutions at scale is critical
to achieving net-zero. Broadly, energy
storage includes the spectrum of Elec-
tric Vehicle (EV), grid level and behind
the meter batteries, pumped storage,
and the burgeoning green hydrogen
industry.
Under the Chamber’s Road to Net-Zero
campaign, the Energy & Utilities Busi-
ness Committee convened a panel of
experts to walk through battery storage
developments globally and, in the re-
gion, with a focus on:
•
the growing opportunities to invest
in, develop and finance the fu-
ture of battery storage in the Asia
region, and
•
the human imperative to accelerate
the roll-out of battery technologies
and a commercial rationale for
doing so.
•
Siobhan Clarke, BP Launchpad, dis-
cussed investing in and scaling energy
companies. She drew on her experience
in sales and strategy roles in start-ups
and big tech. Her expertise lies in find-
ing the value exchange and getting the
right things done.
Bert Jan Armand Deprest explained that
ENGIE’s core mission is to partner with
and assist large corporations, industry,
businesses and local governments in
their energy efficiency, energy manage-
ment and renewable energy needs by
designing and delivering cost effective
and sustainable solutions as-a-service
in accelerating common ambition and
journey towards zero-carbon transition.
Beni Suryadi outlined the role of the
ASEAN Centre For Energy. Beni man-
ages two ASEAN major projects: the
ASEAN Climate Change and Energy
Project (ACCEPT), the first integrated
energy and climate change project in
The Asian region includes countries at
very different stages of development,
with different operating models for
their energy systems, disparate policy
objectives and stakeholder interests.
Some countries are further along the
path than others on the transition of
merchant and state-controlled electric-
ity markets and introducing renewable
electricity into the grid. Many face
challenges to build a pathway towards
net-zero, increase energy capacity and
even to ensure consistent, affordable
energy access for all.
With over 82 percent of new capacity
coming from renewables in ASEAN,
storage is becoming an issue to achieve
targets and to deal with associated
intermittency. Storage is important
to drive market development to shift
renewably generated electrons around
the region through interconnections.
Costs of battery storage are predicted
to decline by 30 percent in Asia over
the next five years. Battery storage
for microgrids is already cost compet-
itive versus the comparative cost of
connecting remote islands to the grid.
This is important for the archipelago
geography of ASEAN countries. Engie
is running testbeds in Singapore to see
how batteries can be incorporated into
microgrids.
Adoption of storage at scale is still
heavily reliant on government support
through fiscal incentives to introduce
the technology. However, if costs come
down, which we have seen with solar
and wind development, we can expect
storage to scale and become integrated
into the grid, becoming part of renew-
able electricity project offerings. This
will have impacts for feed in tariffs with
commercial arrangements reflected in
the terms of offtake agreements.
In the merchant markets batteries can
pay for themselves as ‘power plants’,
trading electricity as prices spike and
dip. Exciting developments are also
afoot with the emergence of vehicle to
grid (V2G) energy technology enabling
EVs to become mobile batteries in the
next decade.
Battery storage and energy storage
more broadly will play an increasing
role in the region and offers four key
opportunities:
1.
Deferring investment in trans-
2.
3.
4.
mission systems by easing grid
congestion.
Reducing curtailment by storing
renewable electricity which would
otherwise be lost through lack of
grid access.
Provide flexibility which coal-heavy
power generation systems in Asia
cannot achieve.
Enable a smarter grid, combined
with smart meters to build in-
creased competition in power
markets.
In the broader APAC region, Australia is
seeing battery deployment progressing
at breakneck speed with recent regula-
tory changes pushing towards the use
of portfolios of varied storage assets,
aiming to lower electricity costs.
Exciting policy, technology and mar-
ket developments are to come in the
battery storage sector with predictions
for a tremendous pick-up in studies for
battery projects, both for those self-in-
vested, or as a service agreement with
a large provider. Batteries in the grid,
behind the meter, and integrated into
transport will surely grow through a
constantly developing approach.
Bree Miechel
Partner, Ashurst LLP and
BritCham Energy and Utilities
Committee member
Click on the image to watch the replay of our
Battery Storage for Asia webinar, recorded on 23
September and featuring our expert panellists:
ASEAN, and the ASEAN Interconnection
Masterplan Study (AIMS) III, the regional
blueprint for electricity interconnection
in the region.
Mauricio Riveros, Carbon Trust, covered
some of his experience at the Carbon
Trust where he has worked in the low
carbon energy sector on several proj-
ects related to smart grids, renewables,
and storage for a range of high-profile
public and private clients, including
local governments in the UK, Latin
America, and Asia.
•
•
•
•
•
Bree Miechel, Partner at Ashurst LLP
(Moderator)
Siobhan Clarke, Operating Partner at BP
Launchpad
Bert Jan Armand Deprest, Regional Head of
Business Development at Engie
Beni Suryadi, Manager, Power Generation, Fos-
sil Fuels, Alternative Energy and Energy Storage
at ASEAN Centre for Energy
Mauricio Riveros, Senior Manager, Energy Sys-
tems at The Carbon Trust
Guests had the opportunity to join
breakout group sessions with the
panellists to share experiences through
networking. This generated some very
interesting discussions. One panellist
reflected that the session provided
more insights within an hour on the top-
ic than had been garnered in the past
six months!
SPECIAL FEATURE: SUSTAINABILITY - COMMITTEE CONTENT
BATTERY STORAGE FOR ASIA