Entering the Smart String Grid Forming ESS Era with Huawei
This year Huawei hosted a ceremony to highlight its “FusionSolar Strategy” and launch new generation of Smart String Grid Forming ESS Platform. Steven Zhou, President of Smart PV & ESS Product Line, Huawei Digital Power, also spoke about the company’s longstanding commitments to its FusionSolar strategy, the opportunities arising from the energy transition, and the two key features of new ESS platform.
When asked about the FusionSolar strategy, Zhou described it as the integration of “4T technologies (bit, watt, heat and battery) to build the energy infrastructure for new power systems”. With in-depth convergence of them, Huawei forms up innovative smart string grid forming ESS platform. Zhou highlighted three key value propositions behind the approach:
- All-scenario grid forming: Grid forming technology is applied to power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption to ensure the long-term stability of new power systems.
- Cell-to-grid safety: Safety measures are implemented for each phase to ensure the safety of equipment, personnel and assets.
- One matches all: The AI-powered PV+ESS collaborative management platform can adapt to various business models to implement energy yield prediction and automatic optimisation of operation policies.
There are two key features of new ESS platform strategy, commitment to string architecture and providing a one stop grid forming solution.
It is particularly significant considering, as Zhou says, the global energy industry is undergoing a period of rapid change, both in terms of the significance of the role of storage and the high standards to which those storage assets must operate.
“Storage will become more and more widely deployed in the future, if we are to make a transition to the renewable power system,” explained Zhou. “As electrochemical devices, cells inherently have inconsistencies because of raw materials [and] manufacturing, operating temperature conditions etc. Overall performance of an energy storage system is limited by its weakest cell.”
“A single underperforming or degraded cell can further trigger thermal runaway, and eventually compromising the safety of the entire system. Therefore, managing cell inconsistencies during lifetime isn’t just important—it’s essential. Huawei has remained steadfastly committed to the smart string-based innovation. In 2013, we pioneered the application of smart sting inverters in utility-scale solar power plants and have since shaped the industry’s development trajectory. By last year, the global market share of string inverters had grown from 18% to 73%. The string architecture is extended to the energy storage system, from the first smart string ESS in residential to commercial and industrial (C&I) and utility. So, this year, we launched the smart string grid forming ESS strategy, accelerating the achievement of 100% renewable energy power system target.”
In the latest smart string grid forming ESS platform, the pack-level optimiser manages the system with significantly enhanced precision. For a typical 5MWh system, the minimum management unit is the pack of 104 cells, while others about 5000 cells. Zhou emphasised, “Our testing confirms this string architecture delivers 10% more lifetime energy output than conventional alternatives.”
“Huawei provides a one-stop solution, which consists of the Smart String Grid Forming ESS, Smart String PCS, Smart Transformer Station, Smart Array Controller, and Smart Energy Management System,” said Zhou.
One-stop grid forming solution has in-depth coordination of each device in the system by well-defined protocols and algorithms. It can accurately capture the frequency changes in milliseconds and achieve rapid frequency regulation response at plant level. Moreover, it is unveiled with high system availability which is a solid guarantee for the stable operation of the power system.
Calling upon its expertise in the PV and ESS fields, especially regarding grid friendliness and grid-forming technologies, Huawei Digital Power proposes the Smart String Grid-Forming ESS technology system and defines the core standards of grid-forming capabilities: Grid-forming ESS should have grid-forming capabilities for all performances, all grid conditions, and the full lifecycle of power generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption.
Zhou went on to highlight six utility-scale grid-forming components of the company’s offerings:
- Short circuit level: 1x to 6x short-circuit current
- Inertia: inertia time constant ranging from 0s to 20s, action within 5 ms
- Primary frequency regulation: plant-wide response time < 200 ms
- Power oscillation damping: 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz wideband oscillation damping
- Black start: black start for a GWh-level plant within minute-level
- On/Off-grid switching: Seamless switching in the VSG mode
“Leveraging these six capabilities, Huawei’s Smart String Grid-Forming ESS can ensure 24/7 stable grid forming regardless of the SOC, grid SCR, and future evolution of the energy architecture,” Zhou continued. “It offers reliable support for the power system and applies to various business models.”
On the generation side, the solution can be adapted to any grid and power can be stably transmitted. The voltage, frequency, and power angle control functions and application effects are equivalent to those of synchronous condensers. The grid-forming ESS solution features simple maintenance and lower lifecycle investment.
On the transmission and distribution side, the solution stabilises voltage and frequency, supports black start, and mitigates weak power supply in load centres. The electric power market is expanding from energy and capacity markets to ancillary service markets such as reactive power and inertia services. Huawei’s Smart String Grid-Forming ESS features One-Fits-All, meaning one platform that is adaptable to diverse business models and supports flexible evolution.
On the consumption side, seamless on/off-grid switching and stable off-grid operation enable microgrids that are 100% powered by renewables.
This approach has already been delivered at the world’s largest PV-plus-ESS microgrid, the Red Sea destination in Saudi Arabia. This microgrid has been delivering 100% renewable electricity for more than 21 months, and has delivered more than one billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity. Huawei grid-forming PV and ESS has ensured continuous and stable power supply for critical loads such as airport and hotels, achieving a reliability of 99.9%
ESS safety requires systematic high-standard protection from cell to grid. At the cell level, Huawei selects battery cells from leading suppliers with rigorous tests; AI technology is adopted during both manufacturing and operating to identify and trace safety risks in advance. At the pack level, integrated technologies such as ultra-fast cooling, thermal insulation protection, and positive pressure oxygen barrier are used to prevent thermal runaway from spreading. At the container level, each rack is designed with a directional flue to ensure that the combustible gas is discharged from the pack in the shortest path and does not accumulate in the container. At the system and grid level, based on a dual-stage architecture, when the high voltage ride-through happens, no reverse current enters the battery, avoiding thermal runaway.
“We take quality as our first strategy and ensure it through processes and mechanisms. For ESS safety, we will continue the pursuit from no fire propagation to smoke only, from automatic system fault isolation to system fault recovery.” Zhou concluded.
When asked about Huawei’s work in various markets around the world, Zhou pointed to two European examples as evidence of the company’s successes.
“In the Netherlands, ESS and C&I [systems] are very popular, and these are highly-requested in the market,” Zhou explained. “For the industrial complexes, those that want to increase their production, they don’t have enough electricity capacity in their connection points. This is a big change.”
“For Germany, it’s quite different, because they have bigger plants in the northern part of Germany and want to transfer the electricity from the northern part to the southern part; they have demands for the renewable generation side,” added Zhou. Europe has seen increased appetite for new storage systems in recent years, adding 11.9GW of new capacity in 2024, with Germany and Italy leading the way in terms of capacity additions.
“But also, Germany has ambitious targets,” continued Zhou, highlighting how storage can take on a greater burden for meeting energy demand in a changing energy mix.
“Germany phased out all nuclear plants in 2023 and plans to shut down coal-fired plants, a challenge for grid stability of transmission and distribution. To address this, Germany became the first country to adapt grid codes for grid-forming technologies and plans to establish markets for inertia and black start services, via tendering policies. Huawei’s grid-forming solutions deliver superior capabilities. Our solutions not only meet technical standards for black start and frequency regulation services in Germany, but also outperform conventional generators. With advantages like minute-level black-start activation and milliseconds frequency response time, our technology will pave the way for the phasing out of conventional power plant while ensure grid stability.”
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