Tonga
The South Pacific’s largest energy storage facility
The two battery storage facilities installed in Tonga are complementary: the aim of the first 5 MWh / 10 MW battery is to improve the electricity grid’s stability (regulating the voltage and frequency), while the second 23 MWh / 7 MW battery is designed to transfer the electrical load in order to help the grid supply electricity at peak times, and notably in the evening.
This project is operated by the Tonga Power Limited public grid operator and was financed by the Asian Development Bank, the Green Climate Fund and the Australian government.
These batteries are an essential tool for the Kingdom of Tonga’s target of increasing the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to 70% by 2025.
A key role in stabilizing the grid
The storage facility played a key role in the days that followed the volcanic eruption of January 2022 (which was followed by an explosion and a tsunami) by avoiding an outage of the entire power grid. It also helped limit blackouts during maintenance on the islands’ generators, which are currently still the country’s primary source of electricity.
Challenges during the construction phase
The construction and commissioning of this new facility were all the more remarkable given that they took place at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021), when the Kingdom of Tonga closed its borders for over two years.
The teams were able to overcome challenges notably including time differences, cultural and language differences and a lack of local electricity storage expertise by putting remote commissioning in place, in other words by turning the facility on remotely – a first for the Akuo Group.
