BESS platform Eco Stor has marked the start of construction on a 300MW/700MWh BESS project in Germany, just days after RWE did the same.
Eco Stor announced groundbreaking for the battery energy storage system (BESS) in Förderstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on LinkedIn yesterday (5 November).
The company said construction activity has been ongoing on-site since July, but it was symbolically marked with a ceremony including local stakeholders from government and transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz.
Eco Stor noted it is three times as large as the current largest operational BESS in Germany, its 103.5MW/238MWh project in Bollingstedt which came online in June.
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Just a week ago, on 29 October, power firm RWE announced the start of construction on a 400MW/700MWh BESS project in Bavaria, calling it the largest in the country.
Energy Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, said of Eco Stor’s project: “Projects such as the battery storage system in Förderstedt show that sustainable energy supply is not only based on electricity from renewables, but also on intelligent storage.”
Eco Stor also gave a nod to RWE’s announcement in its post, saying: ‘Remarkably, the construction of another large-scale storage system was only recently started in Germany. We celebrate this as a sign of how strong the momentum is here. Each of these projects brings us closer to the goal of a secure, renewable energy future. And we expressly welcome that.’
Interest and activity in Germany’s grid-scale market has soared in the past few years thanks to large opportunities in its deep wholesale energy market and regulatory changes, including an exemption from grid fees for BESS projects put into operation by 2029.
Some present in the market may be looking to capitalise on this interest, with oil and gas major TotalEnergies reportedly looking to sell a 50% stake in a German BESS portfolio (ESN Premium article) it is deploying via the acquisition of developer Kyon Energy in January 2024.
The two announcements from RWE and Eco Stor show the market moving into the next stage of scale of project, being far larger than anything else on which construction has started.
TotalEnergies’ acquisition coincided with Eco Stor also changing its ownership structure, with investor Brookfield (through its X-ELIO arm) and NIC investing in the firm, possibly related to its move from initially being being a technology provider and system integrator to developing and deploying its own projects.
