Commercial-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) being installed at 16 electricity transmission substations across the country are nearing completion and are expected to be connected to the national grid in early September.
The battery systems were brought into Sri Lanka through the Port of Colombo in three shipments during May and June. The project being constructed by WindForce PLC near the Anuradhapura Substation has reached 85% completion.
The systems are designed to store excess electricity generated by solar power systems during the daytime and release the stored energy to the national grid through the substations during the night, based on demand.
This will help improve the stability of the national grid while reducing the need to generate electricity from diesel power plants during peak nighttime demand. Each project will be capable of supplying 10 MW of electricity to the national grid.
The National System Operator Ltd. (NSO), under the Ministry of Energy, will be responsible for the control and management of the systems, while maintenance will be carried out by the respective project companies.
The Government expects these projects to provide a stable and environmentally friendly energy supply, with the resulting benefits eventually being passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, procurement activities are underway to install similar battery energy storage systems at a further 23 substations.
Officials of WindForce PLC and Galilee BESS, the companies involved in the construction, said the stored electricity is expected to be made available to the national grid according to demand from early September.
