Meralco forms unit for electric vehicles

By Lenie Lectura - December 19, 2017
https://businessmirror.com.ph/meralco-forms-unit-for-electric-vehicles/

THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it has formed a unit that will maintain and operate transportation service networks utilizing electric energy.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday, the utility firm said the new subsidiary will cater to charging stations, batteries and vehicles utilizing electric energy and other alternative energy sources.

The board, Meralco said, approved the creation of the unit.

Meralco Senior Vice President William Pamintuan said the unit, which has no name yet, will be 100-percent owned by Meralco. However, the utility firm may consider taking in partners in the future.

“Looking forward, we can have partners later on.”

Pamintuan could not yet give any targets, saying the creation of the unit is still in the development stage. Initially, the plan is to roll out within Meralco franchise area.

“There’s no target yet, but we plan to put up charging stations, electronic vehicles and provide EV [electric vehicle] public shuttles. The intention really is to support EV ecosystem.

Meralco earlier partnered with Japanese multinational engineering and electronics firm Hitachi Ltd. for a battery-storage project.

The partnership involves the installation of two units of one megawatt (MW) lithium-based battery energy storage system (BESS) to Meralco’s distribution network.

The 2-MW BESS will be connected to one of Meralco’s Cruz na Daan circuits and will be installed at the utility firm’s former San Rafael Service Center in San Rafael, Bulacan. Construction works have started and commissioning is targeted on January next year, according to Lawrence Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics.

Pilot study and data gathering will commence immediately after commissioning, Fernandez added.

The facility will serve as Meralco’s test-bed to validate the capabilities of BESS on various distribution-grid applications and will be used for the capability building of Meralco engineers on lithium-based grid-scale BESS based from an actual system.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga, for his part, said the emergence of the two-way power flow in the grid and the increasing penetration of intermittent generation sources, such as renewables, called for new solutions in the distribution system.

“Meralco has embarked on its smart grid journey and we recognize that energy storage will play a vital role in every facet of the smart grid, spanning from generation to consumption. This project with Hitachi aims to prepare Meralco for future grid-scale BESS installations and provide an understanding of the interconnection of grid-scale BESS on the distribution network via an actual learning experience and a simulation of its operations.

This is definitely a breakthrough in the industry and will power more innovation not just for the company, but for the country, as well,” Zaldarriaga said.

The utility firm aims to be the first distribution utility firm to deploy a grid-scale BESS in the distribution system in the Philippines to demonstrate the potential of BESS to manage peak demand and energy, improve service reliability and power quality, and compensate for the intermittency of renewable generation.