Banking on batteries

Many people know electric vehicles (EVs) are fuelled by batteries, but houses, factories and power plants that use renewable power also require batteries for lighting, supporting daily work, and to serve as a back-up electricity source.
Buildings and renewable power generation facilities need a battery energy storage system (BESS) to ensure they use or supply electricity without interruption.
Renewable sources such as the sun and wind tend to offer an intermittent supply of power, with volume determined by weather patterns. BESS eliminates this inconvenience because it stores electricity for use when needed.
Thailand is promoting greater use of renewable energy under its 2024 power development plan (PDP), putting a spotlight on BESS, which can be a companion to solar panels and wind turbines.
BESS can provide entrepreneurs a new business opportunity if prices become more affordable, or new technology is employed to produce better stationary batteries.
The more the country uses renewable energy from the sun and wind, the greater the importance of BESS to ensure clean power stability, said Somchai Homklinkaew, deputy governor of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority.
Because BESS plays a key role in supporting the continual supply of electricity, it will be an essential part of state efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, he said during a Bangkok seminar titled “Integration of Renewable Energy Sources with Energy Storage Systems”.
Thailand is pushing ahead with plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions after the Prayut Chan-o-cha government announced in 2021 at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow more serious efforts to strike a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption by 2050.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is supplying more renewable energy to help the country reach that goal. The authority uses energy storage systems to support the transmission of clean power at substations in Bamnet Narong district in Chaiyaphum province and Chai Badan district in Lop Buri province.
The substations, which manage the transmission of electricity at different voltages, utilise lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used as BESS, to guarantee a continuous supply of clean power. Electricity is stored in these batteries during periods of low demand and released when demand surges.
BESS should become more important as Egat and power firms increase their renewable power generation capacity, in line with the government’s plan to depend less on fossil fuel-fired power plants, which increase carbon dioxide levels.
According to the PDP, which covers 2024 to 2037, the proportion of renewable energy is set to increase to 51% of total fuels used for power generation by 2037, up from 20% last year.
Coal and gas are expected to account for 48% of all fuels used for power generation by 2037, with the other 1% coming from nuclear energy and new energy solutions aimed at reducing fossil fuel usage and saving electricity.
Under the PDP, which has already gone through a public hearing process, investment in renewable energy between 2024 and 2030 is estimated at 525 billion baht, with an electricity generation capacity of 13.3 megawatts.
Most of the additional renewable power will come from the sun, followed by wind, biomass, biogas, floating solar panels, waste-to-energy projects, mini-hydropower plants, geothermal power and renewable electricity imported from neighbouring countries.
As Thailand increases its use of clean energy in pursuit of a low-carbon society, BESS can offer entrepreneurs new business opportunities, said Watcharin Boonyarit, director of solar energy development at the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency.
“Thailand is transitioning to intermittent renewable power sources, with BESS becoming essential equipment,” said Mr Watcharin.
“We should not only import BESS, but also think of new investment projects in this battery business in Thailand.”
The government already announced a policy to build up the EV industry, hoping to make Thailand a regional EV production hub. Incentive packages were launched to promote investment in EV and battery manufacturing.
He said it should not be difficult for authorities to promote the battery business by including stationary battery production for buildings in incentive packages.
Mr Watcharin said BESS should complement the state policy to promote solar energy, which is driving the sales of companies producing rooftop solar panels, including New Energy Plus Solutions, Sena Development and Gulf Energy Development.
“The government should promote BESS as a new S-curve industry, covering R&D, refurbishment of batteries, recycling and other related businesses along the supply chain,” he said.
BESS is expected to be more affordable in the future as its cost comes down.
The production cost of BESS is expected to drop below US$100 per kilowatt-hour, plunging from the current cost of nearly $200 per kilowatt-hour, said Suttichai Premrudeepreechacharn, a lecturer at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Engineering.
This trend, along with rising purchases of rooftop solar panels as users look to avoid high power bills from the state grid, should increase sales of BESS, with homeowners emerging as new customers, in addition to operators of renewable power generation facilities, said Mr Suttichai.
Thailand has the potential to consider sodium-ion battery (SIB) production, which can be an alternative to a lithium-ion battery, according to the Federation of Thai Industries’ Renewable Energy Industry Club.
SIB is made from halite, commonly known as rock salt and composed of sodium chloride.
Thailand is not abundant in lithium, which is essential for producing lithium-ion batteries, though some quantities have been discovered in the southern province of Phangnga.
While this could discourage foreign lithium-ion battery manufacturers to invest here, government support for rock salt exploration, which is believed to be abundant in northeastern Thailand, could make SIB manufacturing a new business opportunity, said Veeradej Tejapaibul, vice-chairman of the Renewable Energy Industry Club.
Many countries are developing SIB pilot projects. If production is upgraded to a commercial scale, Thai authorities, especially the Board of Investment, should develop new investment incentives to promote domestic BESS manufacturing based on SIB technology, said Mr Veeradej.
BESS has the potential to be added to Thailand’s S-curve industry list, he said.
The government is promoting 12 targeted S-curve industries, including new-generation cars and smart electronics, in the Eastern Economic Corridor, which spans parts of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao.
Battery specialists are working on Thailand’s first SIB project at a pilot battery production facility located at Khon Kaen University in the Northeast.
SIB development can pave the way for high-potential businesses because sodium compounds, the main raw material for this type of battery, are more cost-effective than lithium compounds, according to an article reported by the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council, widely known as NXPO.
Compared with a lithium-ion battery, SIB offers faster charging times, higher stability, better safety under wide temperature conditions and is eco-friendly. However, SIB is heavier than a lithium-ion battery, meaning it stores less energy for the same weight.
This drawback is less significant if the applications of SIB are not constrained by weight and size, such as at data centres and transmitter stations, according to NXPO’s article.
Obstacles to production include SIB’s low energy density and controlling the desired voltage range.
SIB is suitable for buildings because of their megawatt-level capacity, in contrast to the kilowatt-level capacity of batteries typically used in EVs, said Mr Veeradej.
Compared with batteries for EVs, BESS may be less popular, but demand for this type of battery will increase significantly in 3-4 years as it becomes an essential part of power consumption among households that increasingly depend on renewable energy, he said.