Largest battery storage system in Bolivia nears completion

Energy Storage News:

The largest lithium-ion battery storage system in Bolivia is nearing completion at a co-located solar PV site, with project partners including Jinko, SMA and battery storage provider Cegasa.

Cegasa announced that it was participating in the project last week (12 January) in Cerro San Simon, in the municipality of Baures in the Bolivian portion of the Amazon.

The firm, which is based in Spanish Basque country and manufactures energy storage products for the off-grid, residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors, said it provided the lithium-ion batteries for the energy storage portion of the project, which totals 800kWh.

The attached solar PV array comprises 336 540Wp modules from Jinko, a 140kW inverter from SMA which also provided the battery inverter for the Cegasa battery pack. Jinko and SMA are amongst the largest producers of PV modules and inverters, respectively, in the world.

Although the announcement did not use the term, the project seems likely to be off-grid, with references to the ‘isolated’ area which previously used ‘fossil fuel generators’ that would occasionally only provide two hours of electricity a day.

Cegasa claimed this is the largest lithium-ion energy storage system in the South American country. This is feasible considering a scarcity of announcements – Energy-Storage.news’ reported on a much smaller project a few years ago.

[Cameron Murray]

More: Jinko, SMA and Cegasa provide equipment for PV plant with largest lithium-ion battery unit in Bolivia