2018 Award ceremony
On Tuesday 19.11.2019, honorary titles and other prizes were ceremonially awarded at the Czech Technical University’s assembly hall, the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, on the occasion of the 17th year (2018 edition) of the nationwide competition Czech Energy and Ecological Project – Construction - Innovation of the Year. The awarded title of ČEEP 2018 in the category of Innovation, and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic Award, which were both for the peaking energy storage system at the Fenix s.r.o production plant in Jeseník, were collected by ing. Cyril Svozil, the Director and Chairman of the Administrative Council of Fenix Group a.s., and ing. Petr Gaman, the Director of the company AERS, s.r.o., which designed and supplied the peaking energy storage system.
The project for a high-capacity battery storage system for the smoothing of consumption peaks and the operational backup of the FENIX Jeseník production plant, which was implemented in cooperation with AERS, s.r.o., was registered for the 17th year of the ČEEP (Czech Energy and Ecological Project) competition, ČEEP 2018, by Fenix Group. a.s. The peaking energy storage system (PESS) in Jeseník is a set of technologies which create a source of energy for a wide range of applications. In Jeseník, the aim of the system is to lower the reserved wattage, to cover energy consumption peaks, to cover ¼ hour maximums, to eliminate fines incurred for exceeding maximums, and to function also as an operational backup for equipment shut-down (POWER UPS).
"The results so far confirm that the storage system works as expected and fulfils all the main functions we require from it. The data from the current, approximately one-year-long period of operation were also presented at the 5th year of the conference and exhibition Smart Energy Forum, SEF 2019, where participants were mainly interested in the economic benefits of this investment, which we implemented without any subsidies. The total cost was 12 million CZK, and the return on investment is expected, based on current measurements, to come in about 7 years, though it will potentially be even sooner. The greatest advantage for us is not to be found in terms of the financial savings on reserved wattage, or the elimination of fines for exceeding maximums, even though we are saving hundreds of thousands of crowns every year there. The crucial aspect for us is that the system ensures an absolutely reliable energy supply and a 100% reduction in micro outages, where the annual savings exceed 1.5 million CZK," ing. Cyril Svozil said.
The award for the peaking storage system was not the only reason the management of Fenix Group a.s. participated in the ČEEP 2018 project ceremony. The first part of the evening saw the announcement of the results of the 17th ČEEP student competition, which was held under the auspices of the rectors of seven Czech technical universities. Fenix Group was the main patron of the student category of ČEEP, which was organized for university and secondary school students, and ing. Cyril Svozil handed over a cheque with a financial reward and a diploma to one of the winners.
"The importance of technical disciplines is often overlooked in our country. Students in such fields are, thanks to their knowledge based on exact sciences, one of the pillars that prevent society from succumbing to alarmist visions of the world, and to that activism which is slowly pushing out honest and creative work from the public sphere. We therefore consider it necessary to support the study of technical disciplines and the best students thus engaged, and show in this way that we appreciate their work and knowledge. We can see from the quality and quantity of the submitted work that students from secondary schools and all seven Czech technical universities fully deserve our support," ing. Cyril Svozil said.
Detailed information about the ČEEP 2018 contest, including the results from the competition’s 17th year, can be found at: www.top-expo.cz
Jeseník, 20th November 2019
