A flurry of BESS project news from big-name players in Northern Europe in the run-up to the Energy Storage Summit next week, with Neoen, Statkraft, Zenobē and Infranode moving projects forward in Germany, Ireland, the UK and Denmark.
Neoen starts building second German large-scale BESS
Independent power producer (IPP) Neoen has given system integrator Nidec notice-to-proceed (NTP) for a 10MW/41MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Germany.
The NTP signals the start of construction for the Willstätt Battery project, which is in the Ortenau district of Baden-Württemberg and is Neoen’s second in Germany. It will come online in 2027.
It comes a year after Neoen launched construction on its first BESS in Germany, a 45MW/90MWh system in Arneburg. It signed a toll for the majority of that BESS’ capacity with power firm Uniper last month.
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The project is designed to cushion short-term load peaks and compensate for frequency fluctuations and so make an important contribution to regional security of power supply, Neoen said.
Zenobē and Drax sign 200MW/800MWh UK toll
IPPs Drax and Zenobē have signed a tolling agreement for a 200MW/800MWh BESS Zenobē is building in Coalburn, Scotland, set to come online in 2028.
Drax, also an IPP but with numerous technologies in its portfolio, emphasised that all the construction, maintenance and availability risk sits with Zenobē.
The toll has a 15-year term with no indexation, and gives Drax full operational control and dispatch rights.
The BESS has a protected grid connection, meaning it is not affected by recent delays by the UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) in giving connection dates beyond 2027 as part of a large interconnection queue reshuffle.
Statkraft’s 20MW/80MWh BESS project goes live at Cushaling
Norwegian state-owned utility and power firm Statkraft has commissioned Ireland’s first 4-hour grid-scale BESS at the 55.8MW Cushaling wind farm in County Offaly.
The Cushaling BESS has a power capacity of 20MW and a 4-hour duration, delivering 80MWh of stored energy. The system was supplied by Fluence.
According to the company, the battery system can respond in around 0.1 seconds, providing rapid frequency support to the transmission system operator as renewable penetration increases.
The project forms part of Statkraft’s broader investment in Ireland’s energy infrastructure, announced in September 2023, and is expected to support the country’s target of sourcing 70% of electricity from renewables by 2030 by enhancing grid flexibility and integrating higher shares of wind generation.
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Infranode FID on 60MW/120MWh BESS in Denmark
IPP Infranode has reached final investment decision (FID) on a 60MW/120MWh BESS, to be co-located with its Vandel III Solar PV Park in Vejle Municipality, Denmark. The project will be the largest co-located battery in the Nordics, measured by power capacity, it claimed, and utilises the existing grid connection.
It added that the BESS will consist of six 10MW units with a 2-hour duration, providing a total capacity of 60MW/120MWh. Construction will start in 2026.
It isn’t clear what Infranode means by ‘unit’, but numerous companies have in the past year announced new modular products which can be combined into ‘units’ totalling double-digit megawatt-hours, including BYD, Envision and Sungrow. The limit for 20-foot units, the industry standard, appears to be around 8MWh.
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