Chilean agribusiness is beginning to incorporate energy storage as a tool to optimize renewable self-consumption and reduce electricity costs. Agrícola Santa Sara installed a battery system at its dairy farm in the Casablanca Valley , where it already had a 424.08 kWp photovoltaic plant.
The project combines solar power generation, inverters, storage, and smart electrical infrastructure, and was developed in partnership with Alken Energía, EMAT, and Huawei. The total investment ranges between USD 350,000 and USD 450,000 , considering both the photovoltaic system and the BESS solution.
Until now, the operation had 684 solar panels and three 100 kW inverters . While this infrastructure significantly reduced consumption from the grid, the company continued to face high costs associated with peak electricity demand during certain production processes, including milking.
The initial response was to add 107 kWh of storage and approximately 108 kW of power . Currently, the project is in its second phase, which will add another 215 kWh, bringing the total capacity to 322 kWh .
The system directly addresses one of the main electricity costs of the operation: peak power demand. The batteries store some of the electricity produced by the panels during the day and release it when consumption increases, using a strategy known as peak shaving .
With the final configuration, Santa Sara estimates achieving a reduction of approximately 45 kW in peak demand . Initially, a fixed-power TOU (Time-of-Use) model was considered, which would have resulted in a 22 kW reduction.
“ Our challenge was to make better use of the energy we were already generating. The solar plant had significantly reduced our consumption from the grid, but we were still facing significant costs due to peak power demand ,” explained Gonzalo Marín, Operations Manager at Agrícola Santa Sara.
According to the executive, the initiative seeks to reduce these costs, improve the energy management of the operation, and generate an experience that can serve as a reference for other companies in the agricultural sector.
Expected return in less than three years
One of the project's key aspects lies in its economic equation. According to the owners' estimates, the investment should be recouped in less than three years .
Alken Energía was responsible for the engineering, sizing, and integration of the system with the existing facilities. The challenge was to modify the infrastructure without affecting the continuity of production and, at the same time, prepare the platform to incorporate more storage in the future.
“The main challenge was designing a solution tailored to the operation’s consumption profile and integrating it with the existing infrastructure, without interrupting the production process. The result is a scalable system that will allow for continued storage,” said Álvaro Lorca, general manager of Alken Energía.
Huawei provided the batteries, smart inverters and FusionSolar , the platform that allows real-time monitoring of photovoltaic generation, storage and consumption at the dairy farm.
“The energy transition involves not only generating renewable energy, but also managing it intelligently,” said Felix Chen, manager of Huawei Digital Power Chile. According to the executive, these types of projects demonstrate how BESS (Basic Energy Storage Systems) can increase self-consumption and improve the competitiveness of sectors such as agribusiness.
EMAT, meanwhile, was in charge of supplying the equipment, commissioning and providing technical support.
The batteries are looking for space behind the meter.
The project demonstrates a different application of energy storage than the large-scale BESS systems deployed alongside renewable energy plants. In this case, the batteries are installed behind the meter and directly within a productive operation , with savings on the electricity bill as one of its main objectives.
The logic also changes how an existing photovoltaic plant is used. Instead of simply consuming electricity when the panels are producing, the company can store some of that energy and use it when its demand profile requires it.
The model is scalable and can be extended to other sectors with intensive consumption or pronounced peaks, such as mining, manufacturing, aquaculture, vineyards, logistics centers, data centers , hospitals and commercial buildings.
For Santa Sara, the strategy now involves getting more out of its 424.08 kWp solar power through 322 kWh of storage , simultaneously reducing the power required from the grid and the costs associated with peak consumption times.