A 36 megawatt hour battery the size of a soccer field has arrived in Northern China
Step aside Duracell, the world of energy storage has a new king. Situated in China's northerly Hebei province lies the fruits of a $500 million investment between the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and Warren Buffet-backed BYD Motors: the world's largest battery array.
The battery will store 36 megawatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 12,000 homes for an hour during a total power failure. In a media release, SGCC (China and the world's largest electrical power distributor) claimed the new array could increase the region's renewable energy efficiency by up to 10%.
The system comprises three elements: a 140 megawatt wind and solar power generation unit, a smart grid transmission system and the array itself. The smart grid system will allow for better harvesting of energy in optimum conditions and also better storage for when usage peaks at various points throughout the day.
The deputy director of China's National Energy Administration has proudly declared the project a model for future renewable energy development and has hinted that more and more behemoth batteries may be appearing across China in the near future.