Hitachi Ltd. has developed a prototype container-transportable energy storage system it is positioning at the core of its renewable energy management product strategy. The CrystEna system is intended to ensure the stable use of distributed wind and solar power while maintaining the power supply-demand balance.
The 1 MW energy storage system combines the Hitachi Group's electricity grid control technologies and Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd.'s lithium-ion battery technology. The company says it intends to begin field trials of the CrystEna system in North America in 2014. Plans call for Hitachi to incorporate the results of this testing in a commercial product after verifying the economic viability and performance of the system in the ancillary electricity market.
