Image courtesy UNIGRID Battery / Blue Whale Energy
Blue Whale Energy and UNIGRID, Inc. have partnered to deploy rooftop solar-linked battery energy storage systems (BESS) in support of a virtual power plant (VPP) network across Southeast Asia.
According to the partners, a Southeast Asia-based VPP energy developer and an advanced sodium-ion battery innovator, respectively, the network will consist of behind-the-meter commercial and industrial BESS solutions tailored for dense urban environments.
The partners cite in the release how solar installation rates have been soaring globally, straining the electric grid due to the intermittent nature of solar energy and its mismatch with peak electricity demand. To bridge this gap, they say, pairing solar with battery storage is essential.
However, in dense urban environments, where the need for such solutions is highest, deploying BESS has long been constrained by space limitations. Urban areas lack open spaces for large containerized battery systems, and require setback distances that typically exceed commercially available footprints and industrial building boundaries.
This is where the partners say their solutions come in, installing compact, modular battery packs directly beneath solar panels.
Have you read:
Tech Talk | Decentralising energy management and VPPs
Virtual power plants (VPPs) hold the potential to reshape the energy system
This close-proximity co-location is unfeasible with traditional lithium-ion batteries, which pose fire risks and require complex and costly EPC infrastructure, including thermal management, specialised enclosures, and comprehensive fire safety mitigation.
According to UNIGRID, their technology is inherently safer and operates over a wide temperature range without the need for active thermal management.
“This technology is a game changer for us,” said Gabriel Lim, founder and CEO of Blue Whale Energy in a release.
According to Lim, UNIGRID’s sodium-ion platform allows the company to deploy energy storage directly where energy is needed, such as “on commercial and industrial rooftops throughout urban cities where space constraints previously made installations unfeasible. This allows us to turn every roof into a dispatchable grid asset.”
Said Darren H. S. Tan, CEO of UNIGRID Battery: “We’re proud to support Blue Whale in building Southeast Asia’s virtual power plant network, powered by distributed renewable energy and safe storage.
“Such an approach allows us to open up new and untapped market opportunities in the BESS world.”
Blue Whale Energy plans to deploy an initial 8MWh of sodium-ion solar-plus-storage systems by the end of 2025.
From 2026 onward, the partnership will expand across Southeast Asia.
