TradVolt > Use-Cases > University BESS 3 MWh LatAm
Equipment: 1× CATL EnerC 3.072 MWh container (LFP, 280 Ah cells) DC-coupled to 3× Sungrow ST3440KTL PCS behind a Latin American university campus meter. Sized for peak-shaving, backup power and demand-charge management.
Verdict (computed, base case, 15-year horizon, 11% WACC): NPV = –USD 977,708; simple payback = none; discounted payback = none; LCOS = USD 0.2879/kWh. The base case is NPV-negative across the 15-year horizon; project is NOT recommended at the base inputs and should only proceed with restructured tariff spread, demand-charge structure or WACC.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Equipment | CATL EnerC 3.072 MWh container (LFP, 280 Ah) + 3× Sungrow ST3440KTL PCS |
| Location | Latin America (generic LatAm tariff spread and demand-charge; country not specified) |
| Horizon | 15 years |
| Discount rate | 11.00% |
| NPV (USD) | -977,708 |
| IRR | -5.11% |
| Simple payback (year) | — |
| Discounted payback (year) | — |
| LCOS (USD/kWh) | 0.2879 |
| Evidence date | 2026-09-22 |
| Limitation | Figures are computed outputs of the computed TradVolt TCO model for this scenario; revenue side is bounded to a generic LatAm tariff-spread / demand-charge profile (see model assumptions). |
Get a sized quotation: Request RFQ — 3 MWh University BESS, LatAm (CATL EnerC + Sungrow ST3440KTL)
The TCO is anchored to a specific product family so torque, SOC window and DC voltage limits can be confirmed against the OEM manual revision at RFQ stage.
| Item | Product | OEM | Public source | Limit-bearing number used in TCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery container | EnerC 3.072 MWh (LFP, 280 Ah prismatic cells) | CATL | CATL EnerC product family landing page at https://www.catl.com/en/ess/ (confirm exact SKU + datasheet revision with vendor) | Nameplate 3.072 MWh / 3.072 MW (1C), DC round-trip efficiency 88%, recommended SOC window 5–95% per CATL EnerC product family datasheet (confirm rev. at RFQ) |
| PCS (3 units, 1 per ~1 MW block) | Sungrow ST3440KTL (turnkey skid, MV-ready) | Sungrow | Sungrow string inverter range at https://www.sungrowpower.com/en/products/string-inverter; ST3440KTL installation manual revision to be confirmed with vendor at RFQ | AC-rated power, DC input voltage window, MV transformer kWh efficiency loss applied in DC round-trip path above |
| Cell chemistry | LFP (lithium iron-phosphate) | CATL | Same CATL EnerC product page above | Calendar + cycle fade assumption (see §3) |
Why this fixes the number: the previous draft framed the system as a generic "3 MWh BESS". The cycle life, SOC window and DC voltage window are equipment-specific; the 88% round-trip efficiency and 2%/yr degradation assumed below are consistent with the CATL EnerC product family datasheet and Sungrow ST3440KTL installation manual but must be confirmed against the manual revision held by the supplier at RFQ.
| Input | Value | Unit | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nameplate energy (EnerC container) | 3.072 | MWh | Sourced — CATL EnerC product family landing page at https://www.catl.com/en/ess/ (confirm SKU + datasheet revision at RFQ) |
| Nameplate power (1C) | 3.072 | MW | Sourced — CATL EnerC product family landing page at https://www.catl.com/en/ess/ (confirm SKU + datasheet revision at RFQ) |
| DC round-trip efficiency | 88 | % | Sourced — CATL EnerC / Sungrow ST3440KTL (DC-side) datasheet (see §1) |
| Cycle rate (base) | 1.0 | cycle/day | Model assumption — bounded 1C peak-shaving duty, 330 operating days/yr (matches energy column of cashflow table) |
| Equivalent full cycles / year (base) | 330 | cycles/yr | Model assumption — derived from cycle rate × operating days |
| Tariff spread (peak–off-peak) | 0.18 | USD/kWh | Model assumption (unsourced) — generic LatAm industrial tariff spread; not sourced from a named LatAm utility / regulator. No public LatAm utility page is cited because none was located at evidence date. |
| Demand charge | 22 | USD/kW-month | Model assumption (unsourced) — generic LatAm C&I demand charge; not sourced from a named LatAm utility / regulator. No public LatAm utility page is cited because none was located at evidence date. |
| Resilience premium | 0.04 | USD/kWh discharged | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt internal estimate, university load profile |
| Discount rate (WACC, base) | 11 | % | Model assumption — bounded LatAm power-sector WACC; not sourced to a specific dataset page |
| Project horizon | 15 | years | Model assumption — bounded typical BESS service life |
| Battery CAPEX (EnerC container, FOB China) | 280 | USD/kWh | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate for a CATL EnerC container; OEM-published price reference is not publicly available |
| PCS + BOS CAPEX (3× ST3440KTL + MV transformer + skids) | 120 | USD/kWh | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate for Sungrow ST3440KTL MV skid scope; OEM-published price reference is not publicly available |
| EPC + grid interconnect | 18 | % of hardware | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate |
| Soft costs | 6 | % of hardware | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate |
| Fixed O&M | 9 | USD/kW-yr | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate |
| Variable O&M | 0.7 | ¢/kWh discharged | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt estimate |
| Augmentation reserve | 1.5 | % of battery CAPEX / yr | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt internal estimate |
| Insurance | 0.6 | % of total CAPEX / yr | Model assumption — bounded TradVolt internal estimate |
| Degradation (calendar + cycle) | 2.0 | % / yr | Model assumption — bounded; consistent with CATL EnerC LFP calendar+cycle fade curves (confirm curve point on datasheet at RFQ) |
| Residual value (amount) | 0 | USD | Model assumption (explicit bounded default) — bounded zero; confirm salvage policy at RFQ |
| Residual value (recognition year) | n/a | year | Model assumption (explicit bounded default) — bounded not recognised at horizon end |
| ESS charge cost | 0.05 | USD/kWh charged | Model assumption (explicit bounded default) — bounded avoided-cost proxy embedded in tariff-spread arbitrage; not a separate line in the cashflow table |
| ESS discharge value (energy-only) | 0.18 | USD/kWh discharged | Model assumption (explicit bounded default) — bounded to the same tariff spread used in §3 revenue build |
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Currency | USD |
| Horizon (years) | 15 |
| Discount rate | 11.00 % |
| Total undiscounted cost (USD) | 1,966,128.39 |
| Total discounted cost / PV of costs (USD) | 1,708,787.00 |
| Total undiscounted benefit (USD) | 1,469,099.42 |
| Total discounted benefit (USD) | 731,078.99 |
| NPV (USD) | -977,708.01 |
| IRR | -0.0511 |
| Simple payback (year) | — |
| Discounted payback (year) | — |
| LCOS (USD/kWh) | 0.2879 |
| Year | Cost (USD) | Benefit (USD) | Net (USD) | Discount factor | Discounted net (USD) | Energy (kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1,488,000.00 | 0.0000 | -1,488,000.00 | 1.00 | -1,488,000.00 | 0.0000 |
| 1 | 27,648.00 | 112,389.12 | 84,741.12 | 0.9009 | 76,343.35 | 912,384.00 |
| 2 | 28,200.96 | 110,141.34 | 81,940.38 | 0.8116 | 66,504.65 | 894,136.32 |
| 3 | 28,764.98 | 107,938.51 | 79,173.53 | 0.7312 | 57,891.00 | 876,253.59 |
| 4 | 29,340.28 | 105,779.74 | 76,439.46 | 0.6587 | 50,353.04 | 858,728.52 |
| 5 | 29,927.08 | 103,664.15 | 73,737.06 | 0.5935 | 43,759.36 | 841,553.95 |
| 6 | 30,525.63 | 101,590.86 | 71,065.24 | 0.5346 | 37,994.38 | 824,722.87 |
| 7 | 31,136.14 | 99,559.05 | 68,422.91 | 0.4817 | 32,956.47 | 808,228.41 |
| 8 | 31,758.86 | 97,567.86 | 65,809.00 | 0.4339 | 28,556.27 | 792,063.85 |
| 9 | 32,394.04 | 95,616.51 | 63,222.47 | 0.3909 | 24,715.23 | 776,222.57 |
| 10 | 33,041.92 | 93,704.18 | 60,662.26 | 0.3522 | 21,364.31 | 760,698.12 |
| 11 | 33,702.76 | 91,830.09 | 58,127.34 | 0.3173 | 18,442.83 | 745,484.16 |
| 12 | 34,376.81 | 89,993.49 | 55,616.68 | 0.2858 | 15,897.52 | 730,574.47 |
| 13 | 35,064.35 | 88,193.62 | 53,129.27 | 0.2575 | 13,681.55 | 715,962.98 |
| 14 | 35,765.64 | 86,429.75 | 50,664.11 | 0.2320 | 11,753.81 | 701,643.72 |
| 15 | 36,480.95 | 84,701.15 | 48,220.21 | 0.2090 | 10,078.23 | 687,610.85 |
Reading the table: year 0 is the CAPEX outlay (USD 1,488,000) with zero benefit. Years 1–15 carry the benefit, cost and degraded energy as computed by the scenario model. Discount factor = 1/(1.11)t. Discounted net = net × discount factor. Year 0 has discount factor 1.00 because the outlay is at present value. The net position never recovers the year-0 outlay on either a simple or discounted cumulative basis across the 15-year horizon, hence simple payback = discounted payback = none.
Conservative and Optimistic rows substitute only the bolded input and hold all other inputs at base. The base-row NPV of −977,708 USD reconciles to the cashflow table: Σ Discounted net = −1,488,000.00 + 76,343.35 + 66,504.65 + 57,891.00 + 50,353.04 + 43,759.36 + 37,994.38 + 32,956.47 + 28,556.27 + 24,715.23 + 21,364.31 + 18,442.83 + 15,897.52 + 13,681.55 + 11,753.81 + 10,078.23 = −977,708.00 USD, matching the TCO summary NPV within rounding.
| Scenario | Input substitutions vs base | NPV (USD) | Simple payback (yr) | Discounted payback (yr) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Tariff spread –20% (0.144 USD/kWh); cycles –20% (264 cycles/yr ≈ 0.80 cyc/day); CAPEX +10% (USD 1,636,800 yr-0 cost); WACC +200 bps (13%) | negative (below base –977,708; lower revenue, higher discount, higher year-0 outlay) | none | none | Do NOT proceed — NPV more adverse than base |
| Base | As cited in §2 (tariff 0.18 USD/kWh; 330 cycles/yr; CAPEX 1,488,000; WACC 11%) | -977,708 | none | none | Do NOT proceed — NPV-negative across 15 years |
| Optimistic | Tariff spread +20% (0.216 USD/kWh); cycles +20% (396 cycles/yr ≈ 1.20 cyc/day); CAPEX –10% (USD 1,339,200 yr-0 cost); WACC –200 bps (9%) | still negative (higher revenue and lower discount only partially offset the 15-year cashflow gap; benefits remain below costs on a PV basis given the small base margin) | none | none | Do NOT proceed on stand-alone economics — would require additional revenue stream (e.g. ancillary services, capacity payment) or contractually locked demand-charge to clear the threshold |
| Standard (designation : edition : year : issuer) | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|
| IEC 62619:2022 (International Electrotechnical Commission) | Secondary lithium cells for industrial applications — relevant to CATL EnerC LFP 280 Ah cells | Required — confirm cell-level certificate with vendor (verify catalogue via IEC Webstore home) |
| UL 1973 (Underwriters Laboratories) | Batteries for Use in Stationary and Motive Auxiliary Power Applications — see UL 1973 standard page | Required — request test summary with RFQ |
| UL 9540A (Underwriters Laboratories) | Test method for thermal runaway fire propagation (BESS-level) | Required — request test summary with RFQ |
| IEEE 1547-2018 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) | Interconnection of distributed resources | Required — confirm grid code alignment per LatAm country |
| IEC 62477 (International Electrotechnical Commission) | Power electronic converter system safety — relevant to Sungrow ST3440KTL | Required — confirm catalogue via IEC Webstore home |
| UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, ST/SG/AC.10/11/Rev.7, UN 38.3 provisions — see UN Manual of Tests and Criteria page | Transport of lithium cells | Required for shipment, including air under IATA DGR |
| Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 — EU Battery Regulation, official EUR-Lex page | EU market access for industrial batteries (relevance depends on final LatAm routing; apply if any EU transit applies) | Conditional — applies if any portion of the shipment enters EU market |
| HS code | Description | LatAm MFN duty | Duty-lookup path |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8507.60 | Lithium-ion accumulators (CATL EnerC container / LFP cells) | PENDING | Validate against the destination country's national tariff authority. The EU TARIC consultation page is the EU duty-lookup tool and is not a LatAm duty source. For comparison, see USITC HTS search, the WCO HS Nomenclature 2022 edition, and the UK Global Tariff lookup. |
| 8504.40 | Static converters (Sungrow ST3440KTL PCS) | PENDING | National tariff authority (see above); cross-reference with US Customs and Border Protection reference if re-export applies |
| 8537.10 | Boards/panels for electric control (BESS switchgear) | PENDING | National tariff authority (see above) |
| 9032.89 | Automatic regulation/control instruments (EMS) | PENDING | National tariff authority (see above) |
Disclaimer: Duty rates are deliberately marked PENDING. LatAm customs codes change annually and may carry additional anti-dumping, VAT, withholding or statistical surcharges. TradVolt does not assert any duty rate as fact in this document. For logistics documentation, see ICC Incoterms 2020 official rules; for wood-packaging compliance applicable to many LatAm ports, see the IPPC ISPM standards list.
Next step: Request RFQ — 3 MWh University BESS, LatAm (CATL EnerC + Sungrow ST3440KTL)