Energy storage systems (ESS/BESS) are no longer a technology of the future. For Ukrainian businesses, they have already become one of the key tools for ensuring energy independence of the enterprise, optimizing electricity costs and creating new sources of income. This is the topic of the lecture of Danylo Bondarenko, head of ETL Group, at Dnipro State Technical University.
During the meeting with students and teachers, the expert shared his practical experience in implementing industrial projects, spoke about modern energy storage systems, the development of renewable energy in Ukraine and new opportunities that the market opens up for engineers, investors and enterprises.
From a classic energy system to distributed generation
Ukrainian energy is undergoing one of the largest transformations in the entire history of independence. If a few years ago the basis of the system was large centralized power plants, today solar power plants for business, distributed generation, digital control systems and energy storage systems (BESS) are becoming increasingly important.
Such changes are dictated not only by the global transition to renewable energy sources, but also by the challenges that Ukraine faces: damage to energy infrastructure, instability of power supply and rising electricity costs.
That is why enterprises are increasingly moving from individual engineering solutions to a comprehensive energy strategy that combines:
- solar power plants (SPP);
- energy storage systems (ESS/BESS);
- digital monitoring systems;
- automated management of electricity consumption.
Why energy storage systems have become a necessity for business
During the lecture, Danylo Bondarenko emphasized that today an energy storage system is no longer additional equipment, but a full-fledged element of the energy infrastructure of an enterprise.
Modern BESS allow businesses to:
- provide backup power during emergency outages;
- accumulate electricity during periods of low cost;
- use their own generation from a solar power plant in the evening;
- reduce peak load on the network;
- protect production processes from voltage drops;
- increase the energy efficiency of the enterprise.
For manufacturing companies, even a few hours of downtime can mean significant financial losses. That is why investments in energy storage systems are increasingly being considered as a strategic solution to ensure business continuity.
Energy arbitrage - energy becomes a source of profit
Special attention during the lecture was paid to the topic of energy arbitrage. This is one of the most promising areas of development of the electricity market, which opens up new opportunities for enterprises.
The principle of operation is quite simple: the storage system is charged when electricity has a lower cost or when the enterprise produces a surplus of its own solar generation. The stored energy is then used during hours of maximum consumption or high tariffs.
In combination with a solar power plant for business, this allows:
reduce the purchase of expensive electricity;
use your own generation more efficiently;
increase the return on investment in solar power plants;
form a more predictable cost of production.
For many enterprises, energy is gradually transforming from an expense item into an asset that can be professionally managed.
Modern energy is high technology
Today, the development of renewable energy is impossible to imagine without digital technologies. Design of solar power plants, integration of BESS, dispatching systems, software for generation and consumption analysis, artificial intelligence and automated management are becoming an integral part of modern energy projects.
That is why energy is increasingly combining engineering, IT, data analytics, automation and financial modeling. For students, this means the emergence of new professions and opportunities to work on large-scale infrastructure projects that will determine the development of Ukraine in the coming decades.
ETL Group supports the development of a new generation of engineers
For ETL Group, participation in the training of future specialists is part of the long-term development strategy of the industry. ETL Group has been working as an EPC contractor for over 15 years, implementing complex projects in the field of renewable energy - from the construction of solar power plants to the integration of energy storage systems (ESS/BESS) for industry, the agricultural sector, logistics complexes and commercial real estate. Practical experience in the implementation of industrial facilities allows ETL Group engineers to share with students not only theoretical knowledge, but also real cases, modern technologies and trends in the global energy market.
That is why ETL Group continues to support educational initiatives, popularize modern energy technologies and form a new generation of engineers who will implement projects that will determine the future of the Ukrainian energy sector tomorrow.
