Electrohold Trade manages one of the leading balancing groups, consisting of industrial consumers, with a significant number of RES and batteries being added in recent years.
At the group level, the group includes over 4,000 plants, nearly 700 MW of RES and 500 MWh of electrical energy storage systems.
This was said by Vladimir Dichev, Chief Commercial Officer of Electrohold Bulgaria, during the international conference ENERGATE, organized by Darik Radio in early December in Sofia. According to him, the ambition is to become one of the leading players in the management of batteries and photovoltaic power plants by the end of next year, using the advantages of automated trading and the accumulated experience.
According to Dichev, the energy market is currently undergoing a transformation, becoming much more high-frequency and high-turnover. The share of solar energy is growing significantly, which leads to a physical and commercial imbalance in the electricity system. This is where energy storage systems come into play as one of the important solutions for structural change. Batteries increase the efficiency of solar power plants, store energy when it is cheaper, and return it to the system when there is a shortage.
Dichev admitted that battery management is quite challenging because it is not a classic form of trading. “This is a business that works 24/7, 365 days a year. That is why it is necessary to come to the aid of automated solutions that Electrohold Trade is already implementing.” The expert also pointed out that the use of artificial intelligence in electricity trading is becoming inevitable, and in combination with the highly qualified team of nearly 100 specialists, the company manages to meet the needs of the market and its customers.
A similar opinion is shared by the Chief Commercial Officer of Electrohold Trade Martin Georgiev, who also took part in the forum. “Due to the rapid development of RES in recent years, there is a huge need for batteries throughout Europe to store the energy produced. In Bulgaria, the sector is extremely dynamic. Soon, there will be installed battery capacities here comparable to those available in Germany. This makes us an innovator on a European scale. The facilities are being built by Bulgarian operators, which allows all the know-how to remain and be built on in Bulgaria.
According to him, the next big challenge will be the operation and management of the facilities currently under construction and the trade in the energy they produce. That is why Electrohold Trade is introducing high-tech platforms for commercial management and optimization, which support optimal market realization of storage capacity and maximizing investors' income.
Another highlight of the international ENERGATE conference was the participation of Thomas Rafainer, CEO of The Mobility House. The German company, which is a partner of Electrohold Trade in providing software for aggregation and commercial management of energy assets, is currently building the largest virtual power plant, composed entirely of batteries and electric vehicles. In practice, it will include every parked electric vehicle and make the vehicle part of the energy system of the future.
“Through such assets, we make mobility more efficient, we make electricity cheaper and, we hope, we make the planet a little happier“, said Refiner, Refiner shared during the conference.
Karen Wu - Regional Sales Director of BYD Energy Storage also arrived in Bulgaria especially for the forum. The Chinese company is among the largest manufacturers of electric vehicles and energy storage batteries in the world. Most people know BYD for its electric vehicles (EVs), but the group operates in four broader business segments, one of which is energy storage technologies.
According to Wu, BYD Energy Storage already has projects launched and contracted with a capacity of over 130 gigawatt hours (GWh), including contracted projects in Europe with a capacity of over 22 GWh in countries such as Bulgaria, the UK, Poland, Germany and Hungary.