Fluence has been able to keep working on “all but two or three” of 73 utility-scale battery projects, with battery energy storage increasingly considered an essential part of grid infrastructure in many parts of the world.
Energy-Storage.news spoke to John Zahurancik, chief commercial officer at the technology provider formed in a joint venture (JV) between power project developer AES Corporation and engineering giant Siemens.
Zahurancik said that while there have been some necessary delays and adjustments to working practises to minimise the possibility of COVID-19 transmissions, nearly all of the company’s project pipeline is “moving ahead in one form or another”.
“We’re very actively out and doing installations of equipment in most pieces these are utility-scale energy storage installations that the construction of those has in most spots been exempted from restrictions on shutting a business down or it’s considered to be part of critical infrastructure development,” the Fluence COO said.
A ‘bigger and bigger part of the conversation’: Energy transition and economic recovery
Longer term, John Zahurancik said that energy storage will be “part of the conversation” in how economies move to restart and move forwards once the pandemic is finally under control. Energy storage has been an “increasing part of the conversation in terms of infrastructure,” in replacing ageing infrastructure as well as in terms of the transition to a cleaner and more efficient electrical grid already, he said.
“We see more of the infrastructure planners, whether those are utilities or regulatory bodies, or other people that are dealing with long-term infrastructure, include energy storage as part of their long-term planning cycles. We’re seeing people conduct solicitations, procurements for energy storage all around the world in different forms.
In some places it’s aimed at strengthening the generation side, in complement to renewables, in other cases it’s aimed at strengthening the transmission and distribution side, you even see energy storage at the customer-sited level for resiliency and cost reduction,” Zahurancik said.
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