Island Grid Energy Storage

CBS Power Solutions approached Nuvation Energy for assistance integrating Nuvation’s high-voltage battery management system into the energy storage component of a microgrid on the remote island of Lifuka.

Lifuka is a 4.4 square mile island in the the Kingdom of Tonga that had been receiving electrical power exclusively from diesel generators. In order to meet a government mandate to derive 50% of island grid power from clean energy, the Kingdom of Tonga contracted CBS Power Solutions to add solar power and 480 kW / 495 kWh of VRLA-based energy storage to their island grid.

The OEM BMS was not designed to support the full range of functionality needed for the micro-grid implementation, so CBS asked Nuvation to replace it with Nuvation Energy BMS. Nuvation engineers upgraded the battery management systems on the island, assisted with system integration with the Siemens PCS, and also with ESS installation and bring-up.

Project Details:

• Solar + 480 kW / 495 kWh lead-acid battery storage
• Cut diesel fuel use in half
• Battery charged during day and discharged at night
• Existing BMS did not have accurate SoC
• Installed Nuvation Energy High-Voltage BMS
• Assisted with system integration and debugging onsite
• Integration with a pair of Siemens S120 300 kW inverters
• Implemented MESA protocol on-site