Who, What & Where

  • TESVOLT GmbH
  • Mandengo SMART Hybrid Irrigation Project
  • Mandengo Farm, Quirinopolis, State of Goias, Brazil

The Company

TESVOLT GmbH is specialised in the development, manufacturing and supply of highly efficient energy storage systems based on lithium-ion battery cell technology. TESVOLT GmbH collaborates closely with industry-leading suppliers of components and concentrates on commercial and industrial applications with storage capacities ranging between 10kWh to large-scale containerised applications. 

The Challenge

It is estimated that there are between 1,000 and 1,200 rural properties that use a diesel generator to irrigate in Brazil. The goal was to show the rural producers of Mandengo Farm the potential of solar energy and its applicability.42

The Mandengo Farm’s biggest challenge was that it was fully dependent on gener­ators, creating high cost in electricity, die­sel, and transportation preventing the land to bloom to its fullest. TESVOLT provided the solution to enhance the productivity in an environmentally friendly way, bringing the cost down from EUR 0.16/kWh to EUR 0.04/kWh.

The Farm is located in a remote area where internet access and wireless connectivity is limited. During project implementation, the day-to-day transportation to the proj­ect location was challenging due to rough terrain.

Renewable Solution

Technology implemented:

  • TESVOLT System - TS HV with ABO in­side (active battery optimiser)
  • TS HV – High Voltage Generation
  • Power: nominal power output of bat­tery storage 150 kVA
  • Battery capacity: 307.2 kWh in first con­struction phase; capacity expandable
  • PV Installation -700 kVA / 800 kWp solar/ SMA Sunny High Power

Both BRYDS Soluções em Energia (EPC Partner) and IDEATEK (Service Partner) were trained and certified by TESVOLT Academy to commission the system suc­cessfully. The Battery Energy Storage Sys­tem (BESS) was installed in a climatised room to prolong life expectancy.

A storage solution was required as a back­up for the installed hybrid system. There­fore, a high-performance storage system with a high depth of discharge, many guar­anteed cycles with easy installation and high operational reli e implementation of the SMART Hybrid Microgrid Optimisation. This is ensured by a one-time inspection per year and low internal energy consump­tion of the system electronics.

Project Outcome

With the implementation of this SMART Hybrid Microgrid project, the farm ben­efitted from an immediate diesel use re­duction of approx. 70 l/hr to 25 l/hr. This marks a more than 64% reduction in diesel use and CO2 emissions.

The hybrid photovoltaic system for irriga­tion also enabled the farm to increase pro­duction from one harvest per year to three crops per year (beans, corn and soybeans). The implementation of the Mandengo proj­ect created approximately 50 new jobs and has effectively decreased CO2 emissions by approximately 1,076 tonnes per year.

Next Steps

The customer intends to double or triple battery energy storage capacity soon, af­ter ascertaining that the SMART Hybrid Microgrid was a complete success. Opti­misations continue to improve such as the firmware of the hybrid controller which is currently being improved and updated by SMA to better serve the existing consump­tion profile and maximise the power usage of BESS.