Weekly Brief

100% Renewable Energy to Power Cutting-Edge Infill Estate Powered by Alpha ESS

Dr. Dong Lin, Vice President, Alpha ESS

Dr. Dong Lin, Vice President, Alpha ESS

• East Village Knutsford will become an innovation hub for sustainable living
• Residents will use their own microgrid and battery storage to generate power
• Energy bills will be slashed by about 50%, saving residents around $1,200 a year
• Each home will be wired for electric vehicle chargers

LandCorp’s East Village at Knutsford, a former industrial site in Fremantle, will be a showcase for energy-efficient residential infill development, featuring blockchain-ready homes, a microgrid supply network for water and power and a shared on-site battery.

The Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs initiative will see a 670-kilowatt battery shared by the individual homeowners.

Using 100 percent renewable energy from solar panels and battery storage, the 1.5-hectare development will set new benchmarks for affordable and sustainable living in Western Australia.

Future residents at the 36 townhouses will generate their own power using individual 5kW photovoltaic solar systems, share renewable energy across a microgrid and have their own electric vehicle charger.

East Village at Knutsford will be tracked and assessed by an on-site living laboratory, in partnership with Curtin University.

The research program will build a dataset to demonstrate the value of the innovations and work towards One Planet Living accreditation.

As stated by Energy Minister Bill Johnston:

“The mix of innovations at East Village at Knutsford provides a great insight into the future of greener and cleaner powered homes

“Every aspect of this innovative project is set to challenge our thinking when it comes to powering the next wave of residential development in our city.

“The 670 kilowatt battery is the first in Australia to power a residential construction site and it will ultimately be the very heart of this community, which is designed for people of all ages.”

117 batteries, powered by AlphaESS, amongst a host of other critical infrastructure, have been installed and commissioned for use during construction works to deliver power and reduce the carbon footprint of the project.

Here is how the whole system of the microgrid runs: the centralized battery works as a free market enables residents to trade electricity freely between one to another. 36 house owners will have their own solar and battery system (Alpha ESS residential energy storage product - SMILE5) to provide their first level of electricity. When their SMILE5 is full, extra electricity will be stored in the centralized battery system. When there is not enough electricity stored in their SMILE5 or excess power is needed, the house owner will be able to pull electricity from the centralized battery as a second level electricity reserve.

The project is centered on the centralized energy storage of the AlphaESS Storion-T100 (100kW inverter with 670kWh lithium battery), using the electricity generated by the photovoltaic panels attached to 36 homes with residential Storion-SMILE5 to for form a Microgrid. T100 acts as an integrated generator for the entire system to help power to be dispatched between homes.

SMILE5 systems provide intelligent monitoring and control for each homes’ electricity usage, electricity storage, and electricity sales, complete system cluster control, remote scheduling, hence providing cheap and clean electricity directly to residents. The system is connected to the local power grid at the same time as a backup power supply if the battery ever stops working.

AlphaESS contributes to the supply of batteries and control system and the whole system design. The following key components are constructed in the container:

1. The control system (EMS developed by AlphaESS) is in charge of the whole system distribution, monitoring, and control. Communication and integration ensures the system working on a stable pattern.

2. The inverter is provided by Sinexcel. This inverter is capable of having more than 200kW PV input and generates 100kW constant power.

3. Batteries connected to the inverter provided by Alpha-ESS are combined into 9 different strings. Each individual strings are controlled by a high voltage box, which will further be connected to the inverter.

Established in 2012, AlphaESS specializes in advanced battery storage products and intelligent energy management solutions for residential and commercial customers. AlphaESS products have spread to more than 30 countries through our partners, benefitting thousands of customers.

AlphaESS’s vision is to promote future energy revolution, to become a world-class energy service provider and to lead innovation in energy storage and produce smart clean energy. East Village’s project at Knutsford is certainly one step closer to that vision