Renewable energy opportunities

Power Solutions

RichTerra Corp (RTC)  has primarily been involved in natural resource industry and is providing Drilling, Wellsite and Reservoir Engineering consulting services in Canada and USA since its inception in 2003. In 2015, RTC diversified into Electrical Substation Equipment and Water Engineering Solutions with a primary focus to provide unique solutions in India, Africa, North and South American.  

 

 In 2022,  RTC further diversified into Renewable Power and related Electrical Equipment Solutions with a primary focus to provide unique solutions in North American. 

.

RTC provides follwing Power Solution:

  • Substation 
  • Slar Energy 
  • Battery Stroage
  • Transformer Equipment
  • Wind Power 

 

We strive to provide our clients with value-added technologies and solutions to meet their requirements. With a team of highly experienced engineering professionals, RTC aims to establish its presence in North America  by bringing niche products, unique solutions.

Solar Energy 

 PV technology will be utilized for the generation of electricity.  Infrastructure associated with the solar PV facility will include:

Solar PV array comprising PV modules and mounting structures.

Inverters and transformers.

  • Cabling between the project components.
  • On-site facility substation to facilitate the connection between the solar PV facility and the Eskom electricity grid.
  • LDES System (Vanadium BESS-Second Phase).
  • Site offices and maintenance buildings, including workshop areas for maintenance and storage.
  • Laydown areas.
  • Access roads, internal distribution roads and fencing around the development area.
  • Telecommunication infrastructure.
  • Stormwater channels and water pipelines.

Solar Energy - Photovoltaic Cell 

The Bexar Solar PV Facility will have a contracted capacity of 100MW and will make use of PV technology. Solar energy facilities, which utilize PV technology, use the energy from the sun to generate electricity through a process known as the Photovoltaic Effect. This effect refers to photons of light colliding with electrons, and therefore placing the electrons into a higher state of energy to create electricity.. The Photovoltaic Effect is achieved through the use of the following components:

 

Photovoltaic Cells

A PV cell is made of silicone that acts as a semi-conductor used to produce the Photovoltaic Effect. PV cells are arranged in multiples / arrays and placed behind a protective glass sheet to form a PV panel (refer to Figure below). Each PV cell is positively charged on one side and negatively charged on the opposite side, with electrical conductors attached to either side to form a circuit. This circuit captures the released electrons in the form of an electric current (i.e. Direct Current (DC12).

 

PV panels will be fixed to a support structure. PV panels can either utilize fixed/static support structures, or single or double axis tracking support structures (refer to Figure below). PV panels which utilize fixed/static support structures are set at an angle (fixed-tilt PV system) so as to optimize the amount of solar irradiation. With fixed/static support structures the angle of the PV panel is dependent on the latitude of the proposed development and may be adjusted to optimize for summer and winter solar radiation characteristics. PV panels which utilize tracking support structures track the movement of the sun throughout the day so as to receive the maximum amount of solar irradiation.

Battery Storage

Battery storage is a technology that enables power system operators and utilities to store energy for later use. A battery energy storage system (BESS) is an electrochemical device that charges (or collects energy) from the grid or a power plant and then discharges that energy at a later time to provide electricity or other grid services when needed. Several battery chemistries are available or under investigation for grid-scale applications, including lithium-ion, lead-acid, redox flow, and molten salt

 

The current market for grid-scale battery storage in the United States and globally is dominated by lithium-ion chemistries (Figure 1). Due to tech nological innovations and improved manufacturing capacity, lithium-ion chemistries have experienced a steep price decline of over 70% from 2010-2016, and prices are projected to decline further

 

Battery storage is one of several technology options that can enhance power system flexibility and enable high levels of renewable energy integration. Studies and real-world experience have demonstrated that interconnected power systems can safely and reliably integrate high levels of renewable energy from variable renewable energy (VRE) sources without new energy storage resources.  There is no rule-of thumb for how much battery storage is needed to integrate high levels of renewable energy. Instead, the appropriate amount of grid-scale battery storage depends on system-specific characteristics, including:

  • The current and planned mix of generation technologies
  • Flexibility in existing generation sources
  • Interconnections with neighboring power systems 
  • The hourly, daily, and seasonal profile of electricity demand, and
  • The hourly, daily, and seasonal profile of current and planned VRE.