Fluence & Gransolar Team Up: First battery-based energy storage project in Australia

Fluence, a leading provider of energy storage products and services and digital applications for renewables and storage, today announced that the Spanish renewable energy company Gransolar Group’s battery division, E22, has signed an agreement with Fluence to deploy the Fluence IQ Bidding Application at its first battery-based energy storage project in Australia – a 5 MW / 7.5 MWh system in Victoria. This project represents an exciting new market segment for Fluence in providing digital products to the emerging small grid-scale (<5 MW) energy storage market. It also demonstrates Fluence’s independent, technology-agnostic business model and ability to provide digital products and services to third-party project developers and energy storage system providers.

Located in Longwarry, Victoria, the lithium-ion battery project is under construction and expected to achieve energization in mid-2022. The Longwarry energy storage system will give full support to the distribution network operator Ausnet via a Network Support Agreement (NSA) during times of high congestion in the summer and will participate in wholesale markets the rest of the time. The Fluence IQ Bidding Application will optimize the bidding strategy of the Longwarry energy storage system to ensure it maximizes wholesale market revenue whilst also delivering on its commitments to support the local distribution network.

“Fluence’s Bidding Application will allow us to maximize the revenue performance of our first energy storage project in Australia, as well as meet our requirements as part of our Network Services Agreement with Ausnet. In addition to the Longwarry project, we are excited by the prospect of a continuing collaboration with Fluence in Australia,” said Jaime Vega, General Manager at E22.

The Bidding Application analyses thousands of variables to provide leading price forecasting and optimization using proprietary machine learning algorithms, enabling battery asset owners and operators like Gransolar/E22 to optimize bidding and dispatch in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). The resulting market-compliant bids can increase revenue for energy storage owners and operators, whilst also incorporating complex off-market contract structures such as NSAs.

“We are very pleased to help Gransolar/E22 maximise the performance of its first energy storage project in the NEM and navigate the volatility and complexities of Australia’s energy market. As grid-scale energy storage plays an increasing role in Australia’s clean energy transition, we see a growing need for AI-based bidding software to manage these renewable assets. Co-optimizing the full value stack of wholesale market participation simultaneously with the demands of a network support agreement is a complex task that requires a powerful software layer.” Fluence’s Chief Digital Officer Seyed Madaeni commented.

About Fluence

Fluence is a global market leader in energy storage products and services and digital applications for renewables and storage. With a presence in 30 global markets, Fluence provides an ecosystem of offerings to drive the clean energy transition, including modular, scalable storage products, comprehensive service offerings, and the Fluence IQ platform, which delivers AI-enabled digital applications for managing and optimizing storage and renewables. The company is transforming the way we power our world by helping customers create more resilient and sustainable electric grids. For more information, please visit fluenceenergy.com.