E22 to deploy Fluence’s IQ Bidding Application in Australia

Fluence, a leading provider of energy storage products, applications, and services has signed an agreement with E22, the battery division of Spanish renewable energy company Gransolar to deploy Fluence IQ Bidding Application at Gransolar's first battery energy storage project in Australia.

The lithium-ion battery project is a 5 MW / 7.5 MWh system located in Longwarry, Victoria. The under-construction project is expected to achieve energization by mid-2022, and on completion, it 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 for the rest of the time.

"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, " said Jaime Vega, General Manager at E22.

The latest project marks Fluence's foray into providing digital products to the emerging small grid-scale (<5 MW) energy storage market.

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), Fluence said in its statement.

The AI-powered bidding applications, therefore, results in developing market-compliant bids which can increase revenue for energy storage owners and operators, while incorporating complex off-market contract structures such as NSAs.

"We are very pleased to help Gransolar/E22 maximize 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," said Seyed Madaeni, Chief Digital Officer at Fluence.

"Co-optimising 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."