Baltic Storage Platform, a joint venture (JV), has broken ground on two new 200MW/400MWh battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Estonia.
The JV between Estonian energy company Evecon, French solar PV developer Corsica Sole, and asset manager Mirova will develop the 2-hour duration systems, with plans for the first to be commissioned in 2025 and the second in 2026.
As previously reported by Energy-Storage.news, the two projects will be in Kiisa in the Saku Rural municipality and Arukylä in the Raasiku Rural municipality and will provide emergency reserve power. Kiisa is the location of an emergency power plant operated by TSO Elering.
The battery energy storage park and its substation will be connected to the electricity transmission network using a 330kV AC underground cable, marking a first in Estonia.
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Baltic Storage Platform confirmed that the BESS will seek to ensure the stability and resilience of the Estonian electricity grid. This will also extend to the Baltic power grids—Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—as they are anticipated to be disconnected from the Russian power grid and synchronised to the European grid by 2025.
The states must be able to regulate their grids’ system frequency independently, and BESS projects will provide much of that balancing service.
State-owned energy company Eesti Energi management board member Kristjan Kuhi recently highlighted to Energy-Storage.news Premium that the transition to a 15-minute balancing period and the desynchronisation of the Baltic electricity system from the Russian grid have spurred growth in Estonia’s energy storage sector.
Karl Kull, CEO of Evecon, believes the groundbreaking represents a “historic” moment for Estonia and the entire Baltic energy sector for two primary reasons.
“First, this is an extremely important and real step to prepare the synchronisation of the Baltic countries. Secondly, no one has yet built such a large complex of battery parks in continental Europe,” Kull explained.
“I believe that laying the cornerstone together with our good partners from Corsica Sole and Mirova will not be the last, and we will continue to act to ensure energy security in this area.”
Estonia is targeting an exit from electricity production from shale gas and a 40% renewable energy mix by 2030.
Raphael Lance, head of energy transition funds at Mirova added that the milestone speaks volumes to Estonia’s ambitions in deploying local energy storage capabilities.
Earlier this year, Eesti Energi completed the procurement for its 26.5MW/51MWh BESS in Estonia, with LG Energy Solution among the successful parties.
The announcement comes soon after the conclusion of the Energy Storage Summit Central and Eastern Europe 2024, which was held 23-24 September in Warsaw, Poland by our publisher Solar Media. Read coverage from the conference here.
