Huawei won the bid for the world's largest renewable energy storage project

On Oct 16, Huawei signed the world's largest renewable energy storage project and the world's largest off-grid fusion solar renewable energy storage project - Saudi Arabia's Red Sea New City Project (1300MWh).

The owner of the project is The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC for short); The developer is ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian renewable energy group that focuses on renewable energy business;  Huawei provides the project with an overall renewable energy solution for optical storage, including 1300MWh energy storage system, PCS, communication and management system, etc., and also participates in renewable energy system design, grid simulation and related fusion solar design consulting services.

The signing of the project is also the landing of the largest renewable energy storage project since Huawei officially launched the ground-based fusion solar power station smart string energy storage project in March 2021.

Prior to this, Huawei has accumulated more than 10 years of experience in renewable energy storage system research and development, and has applied more than 8GWh worldwide.

On July 31, 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman officially announced the ambitious Red Sea New City project plan.

The new city will be built on the coast of the southwestern part of Tabuk Province, bordering the Red Sea to the west, with a planned area of 28,000 square kms, including an archipelago composed of more than 90 undeveloped islands, a natural reserve of local flora and fauna, beaches, deserts, mountains, and volcanoes.

The new city focuses on high-end luxury tourism and plans to attract 1 million tourists every year. The first phase of construction plans to build an airport, 14 luxury or ultra-luxury hotels and supporting coastal leisure and entertainment facilities before 2022.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is determined to build it into a "new generation city". In addition to creating super services and a seamless and personalized travel experience in accordance with the highest international standards, it will also set a new benchmark in sustainable development and environmental protection-zero Landfill, zero waste discharged to the sea, no disposable plastic products, 100% carbon neutral.

In order to achieve 100% carbon neutrality, the Saudi government compared the feasibility of multiple energy solutions, and finally chose renewable energy photovoltaic + energy storage as the energy solution for this new city in the future.

The 1300MWh renewable energy storage project will also be the first large-scale practice of solar storage as a major energy source in the world. The successful signing also means that after the completion of the Red Sea New City, it will become the world's first 100% renewable energy storage city. The Red Sea New City project has also been listed as a key project in Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" plan.

Chen Guoguang, COO of Huawei Digital Energy and President of fusion solar Business, said that the significance of the benchmarking of the project is specifically manifested in 4 aspects:

01

The world’s largest renewable energy storage project and the world’s largest off-grid renewable energy storage project;

02

Practical pioneer in the safe and stable operation of renewable energy power systems based on solar storage;

03

The renewable energy economic advantages are outstanding, and the cost of renewable power generation is lower than that of traditional power generation methods, which truly opens the era of optical storage parity;

04

It can withstand extreme environmental tests such as high temperature, high humidity, and high salinity along the Red Sea, and its model can also be quickly replicated, especially in remote areas with no or poor power grids around the world. Renewable energy can be used to solve power supply problems and eliminate power gaps.

After the "carbon neutral" goal was proposed, the construction of a new power system with renewable energy as the main body has become a general trend. However, the intermittent and fluctuating characteristics of photovoltaic and wind power have made the configuration of energy storage a necessary prerequisite for grid connection and safe and stable operation of renewable energy projects.

For this reason, all over the world are actively exploring how to achieve renewable energy as the main energy source and even achieve 100% renewable energy supply.

For example, Qinghai Province, China, put into operation the world's first 100% renewable energy UHV at the end of 2020, delivering clean power to areas 1,563 kilometers away.

It is the 1st time in the world that the large-scale application of photovoltaic + energy storage to supply the energy operation of a city with a population of 1 million, like the Red Sea New City project.

At the same time, the Red Sea New City project is also a breakthrough attempt by Saudi Arabia to seek new economic growth points under the situation of increasingly depleted oil resources. The Red Sea New City will also lead the new lifestyle of Saudi Arabia, the oil kingdom, with the aforementioned environmental protection concepts.

Why did Huawei win?

The bidding for such a large-scale renewable energy storage project is of great significance in benchmarking and demonstration. Therefore, it has also attracted mainstream players in the global energy storage field to participate, and it will finally be finalized on October 16, 2021.

Out of comprehensive considerations such as safety, economy, service response timeliness and reliability, market reputation, brand influence, etc., Huawei's smart optical storage solution was finally recognized by customers and won the world's largest renewable energy storage project.

Huawei has solved customers' problems through energy storage innovative technologies and will create more value for customers.

Its technological advancement is reflected in:

01

Solve the problem of large-scale optical storage independent networking, safe and stable operation: 

Grid Forming algorithm can solve multiple voltage sources parallel circulation, black start, POD (power grid low frequency oscillation) suppression, and can be separated, while adapting to extremely weak power grids and Strong power grid, can support SCR (short-circuit capacity ratio) 1-25 wide range and flexible adaptation;

02

Solve the problem of power supply cost: 

The life cycle cost of the renewable energy storage system is less than 10 cents;

What's the more value Huawei Brings to customers?

01

Shorten the delivery cycle: 

Support strip transportation, site-free wiring, eliminate on-site battery installation and other work, reduce on-site construction and operation and maintenance costs; The red sea new city in Saudi Arabia is hot, the highest temperature can reach 50 degrees C, and the use of board transportation can reduce construction Personnel work time in high temperature environment, saving 2 months of construction time;

02

Simple life cycle operation and simple operation and maintenance: 

Huawei uses the controllability of fusion solar technology to solve the inconsistency and uncertainty of lithium batteries in energy storage, refined management, and maximizes battery charging and discharging capacity; supports mixed use of new and old, and simple maintenance and replacement during the life cycle ；

03

Distributed temperature control technology to ensure longer life of energy storage: 

Through innovative distributed heat dissipation architecture, it slows down battery attenuation and prolongs service life, especially for high-temperature areas in the Middle East, which can better ensure long-term stable operation of renewable energy storage systems;

04

Ensure the ultimate safety of the energy storage system life cycle: 

Intelligent string energy storage has 4 levels of battery-level AI internal short-circuit detection, battery-pack-level active safety shutdown, battery cluster-level overcurrent protection and fault isolation, and system-level fire protection intelligent linkage protection. Safety protection, to achieve active early warning and active safety of the renewable energy storage system.

Huawei Smart String fusion solar Energy Storage

At the same time, Huawei is a long-term partner that customers can trust, with businesses all over the world, and can provide customers with long-term and timely support in terms of delivery and service; Long-term deep development in the Middle East, not only can provide customers with the best cost-effective solutions, but also It can provide value-added consulting services such as large-scale microgrid and off-grid fusion solar power system modeling and simulation.

According to the agreement, Huawei's fusion solar storage solution will be delivered in June 2022, and the project is scheduled to be completed in March 2023.