MARS Renewable, a leading global asset developer and provider of energy storage solutions, has signed a collaboration agreement with GES – Global Energy Services for GES to carry out the installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the battery storage systems that MARS will install in photovoltaic plants in Spain over the next two years. In addition, MARS expects to present GES with new service opportunities in the renewable energy sector. The collaboration will enable a further step in the deployment of battery energy storage in the country, with all the benefits that this entails.
The agreement enables GES to consolidate one of the strategic objectives that the company has set for this year, diversification into new businesses. Specifically, to venture into a new market niche with a great future such as energy storage, in partnership with the leader in energy storage solutions, MARS. The agreement allows GES to start its activity in BESS with its O&M (Operation and Maintenance) business unit, but the company is also bidding for the EPC construction of several photovoltaic projects with capacity storage (some with a capability of 50MW), as well as stand-alone storage projects (directly connected to the transmission grid without the need for a generating plant). In fact, GES’s experience in O&M has been one of the reasons why MARS has trusted the company to carry out these activities.
The potential of energy storage
The agreement represents a great development opportunity for both companies, given the potential of the energy storage market in Spain. Energy storage is a fundamental pillar of the energy transition, making renewable energy production more flexible and guaranteeing its integration into the system. Improving energy storage is a global challenge of major relevance, mainly for renewable sources, and has become a critical tool to move towards a more sustainable and efficient energy system.
In fact, in order to guarantee the stability and flexibility of the electricity system, the PNIEC includes a strong development of energy storage and foresees reaching a capacity of 22.5 GW by 2030, which is a significant increase compared to the 20 GW proposed in the previous plan.
In this context, MARS has established its European operations centre in Spain. With extensive global experience in BESS projects, MARS is accelerating its growth in the Spanish market and has successfully delivered BESS products throughout the Iberian Peninsula. So far, MARS already has a project portfolio exceeding 8 GW in Europe.
The need for regulation
In this sense, the director of O&M (Operation and Maintenance) of GES, Roberto López Casasola, points out that ‘the battery storage business in Spain has a very promising outlook and is constantly evolving. In the short term, there will be a growing demand driven by the need to optimise energy generation and its price-based distribution at specific times’. According to the head of O&M at GES, ‘the investment boom will come when regulatory frameworks are favourable and when this technology becomes better known and more reliable. This is a very good opportunity for O&M service providers, as the demand for qualified personnel in this type of technology will increase considerably, and the acquisition of know-how linked to the operation of storage facilities will be essential to provide a quality service’.