Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALELION (Trucks as a part of the grid, energy storage made easy)
Período documentado: 2017-06-01 hasta 2017-11-30
A traditional lift truck-fleet in a goods management centre is a major consumer/user of primary energy. An average size electrified lift truck uses energy worth of approximately € 50.000 under its five to eight-year primary lifecycle and a conversion to Li-ion batteries reduces the energy use by 50%. Today there are approximately 125 0000 lift trucks in Europe, approximately 1,5% of these trucks are equipped with Lithium-ion batteries. If the entire lift truck fleet would be equipped with innovative solutions as presented in this project, i.e. the AIE- suit; Site Optimsier (AIE-SO) and Grid Trading (AIE-GT) which in an intelligent way integrates and optimise the site with the grid, an additional 12,5 GWh would be available to flex. The graphics gives an overview of the added value and novelty.
The main client, the truck-fleet owner, will be more sustainable in every aspect where savings in € and decreased greenhouse gases are main benefits. The stakeholder, grid operators, will benefit from a more balanced grid-unit that uses energy when it is a surplus. There are several benefits for us, recognition as market leader, new business line, new revenue streams with a 30% profit margin when fully developed and deployed are some.
We see great potential impact in the launch of AIE solutions, which encourages us in the continuation of the project. All over the world, the investments in fossil free energy production are increasing and many actors describe lack of energy storage as the greatest barrier to overcome. When looking upon the aspect of engagement in a collaboration project within an EU H2020 cluster, it is as strategically important for Alelion as creation of a SME Phase 2 project.
In conclusion; Alelion considers the SME Phase 1 project to have been very successful and would like to extend a sincere ‘Thank you’ to the European commission for granting us this opportunity. It is our hope that the commission will continue to support us on our journey and in our ambition to deliver innovative, profitable and sustainable existing energy storage systems that will support the implementation of sustainable energy production and creation of business opportunities all over Europe.
During the course of our feasibility study, we have mainly focused on market information, segmentation, trends and competitors/competitive solutions. The purpose is to assess and pinpoint the optimal strategic configuration of our future SME Phase 2 project as well as increase our inbound business intelligence by further evaluating and developing our USP’s based on the competitor analysis; We have been focusing on the most important initial market segments to maximize impact and accelerated business development potential. We also aim at increasing our customer dialogue to acquire more knowledge about the optimal product positioning (product/market fit) in relation to the chosen market segment.
The Phase 1 project has served its purpose in confirming the need on the market. The over-all concept per se has not changed to a large extent, however the approach and the methodology have changed as a result of the Phase 1 project. It has been established during the project that in order to fully meet the demand from the market there is a strong need to cover a very wide span of business scenarios in Europe in order to develop attractive business models for the selected key markets and to prepare the production line for a successful market introduction. The reasoning behind this conclusion is that despite enjoying products that fit well in to the market there are a lot of improvements that can be made in order to ensure that the Alelion solution keeps its position as the leading sustainable grid connected energy storages.
Industrial – Alelion’s solution has a larger amount of charging cycles and the on-site optimizer as well as Energy Trading system requires minimal maintenance work, making it more suitable from an industrial perspective. It should also be mentioned that by implementing Alelion´s Intelligent Energy storage systems, the installation will also have a notable positive impact on the environment which plays an increasingly important role in most larger stakeholders CSR strategy. How: By providing the market with an innovative product that that enables intelligent energy storage and trading with minimal maintenance and has a substantial impact on the environment compared to its competitors by lowering peak production for the energy company, optimizing internal energy usage and being able to play an active role in providing stored energy for the benefit of outside stakeholders during periods of a higher effect (W) need on the grid.
Social – Minimizing the usage of primary fuel for expensive top peak production plays a vital from a social perspective (in addition to the environmental benefits). By lowering the need for expensive infrastructural investments to certify energy security during periods of a high demand, investments from a public perspective can be made in other fields instead, increasing the impact and value of taxes paid by the inhabitants of the EU. How: By being able to store energy during periods of the day when output is low, which can then be utilized when there is a high demand for electricity, Energy Companies are able to decrease their investments and maintenance in expensive infrastructure such as production units (often utilizing fossil fuels to manage peak production). Funds that previously were used to handle these energy security issues can instead be reinvested in more productively for the benefit of the end-users.