RWE AG, a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen, has begun construction of one of Germany’s largest battery storage facilities at its power plant locations in Neurath and Hamm which will have a capacity of 220MW and a storage capacity of 235MWh. A total of 690 lithium-ion battery blocks will be installed at the facility, involving an investment of about 140 million euros.
Roger Miesen, RWE Generation’s CEO, said: “As the proportion of renewables in the electricity mix increases, so does the need for flexible battery storage systems. They balance out fluctuations in the electricity grid in seconds, which means they are the key to a reliable electricity supply. In terms of size and technology, the new large-scale battery storage facility in Neurath and Hamm is setting standards throughout Europe.”
Lars Kulik, an RWE Power board member, added: “With this battery storage facility, RWE is providing a major boost to structural transformation in North Rhine-Westphalia. By making practical use of the existing locations and grid connections, we are making the traditional power plant sites of Hamm and Neurath important partners for renewables.”
The BESS (battery energy storage system) is scheduled to supply balancing energy to stabilise the electricity grid from second half of 2024. This will entail the plant taking excess power from the electricity grid and feeding it back into the system when required, in order to maintain the required grid frequency; and, as planned, the BESS will operate at its maximum capacity of 220MW for over 1hr — enough to charge the equivalent of around 4,000 electric vehicles.
RWE says battery storage systems are an essential part of the energy transition because they store the leftover electricity resulting from overproduction in the grid and make it available again when it is needed. The company, which develops, builds and operates battery storage systems in Europe, Australia and the USA, currently operates a total installed battery storage capacity of some 300MW (380MWh) and is implementing battery storage projects of more than 900MW (2,300MWh) worldwide. Globally, RWE aims to build 3GW of batteries by 2030.