Blue Whale Energy, a Southeast Asia based virtual power plant energy developer, and UNIGRID, Inc., an advanced sodium-ion battery innovator, announced a partnership to deploy behind-the-meter commercial and industrial (C&I) battery energy storage system (BESS) solutions tailored for dense urban environments.
The electric grid is under growing strain due to the intermittent nature of solar energy and its incongruity with peak electricity demand, as solar installation rates rise internationally due to declining prices and advancing legislative assistance. Solar and battery storage must be combined to close this gap.
However, space constraints have historically limited the deployment of BESS in crowded urban contexts, where the need for such solutions is greatest. Large containerized battery systems cannot be installed in urban settings because to a lack of open space, and setback lengths are usually greater than the borders of industrial buildings and commercially available footprints.
Blue Whale Energy is tackling this by putting small, modular battery packs right under solar panels, which is a unique approach. With conventional lithium-ion batteries, which present significant fire risks and necessitate intricate and expensive engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) infrastructure, such as thermal management, specialized enclosures, and thorough fire safety mitigation, this close-proximity co-location is not feasible.
The ideal way to solve this issue is with UNIGRID’s technology, which is safer by nature and works across a broad temperature range without the need for active thermal management.
“This technology is a game changer for us,” stated Gabriel Lim, Founder and CEO of Blue Whale Energy. “With UNIGRID’s sodium-ion platform, we can deploy energy storage directly where energy is needed – on commercial and industrial rooftops throughout urban cities where space constraints previously made installations unfeasible. This allows us to turn every roof into a dispatchable grid asset.”
“We’re proud to support Blue Whale in building Southeast Asia’s virtual power plant network, powered by distributed renewable energy and safe storage,” stated Darren H. S. Tan, CEO of UNIGRID Battery. “Such an approach allows us to open up new and untapped market opportunities in the BESS world.”
By the end of 2025, Blue Whale Energy intends to install an initial 8 MWh of sodium-ion solar-plus-storage systems. With adaptable, fire-safe, and space-efficient solutions, the alliance will spread throughout Southeast Asia starting in 2026, speeding up the region’s energy transformation.
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