A flurry of grid-scale energy storage news from Europe, with large-scale projects progressing in Kosovo, Switzerland and Croatia involving Millenium Challenge Corporation, Intilion and NGEN respectively.
Millennium Challenge Corporation procuring 340MWh of BESS for two projects in Kosovo
US foreign aid agency Millennium Challenge Corporation is inviting applications for prequalification for the design and build of battery energy storage system (BESS) and transmission infrastructure for two projects in Kosovo, south-east Europe.
A total of US$202 million is available for the two projects, which will total 45MW/90MWh and 125MW/250MWh of energy storage capacity, for a total of 170MW/340MWh.
The procurement, announced on 13 December, is being completed in partnership with the government of Kosovo and aims to help facilitate poverty reduction through economic growth. The deadline for submissions is 14 February 2025.
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Once built, the projects will provide Frequency Restoration Response (FRR), Multi-Functional Energy Storage (MFES) activity and Energy and Climate Policy Support (ECPS). The BESS are the first of three projects the procurement is targeting, alongside the local workforce upskilling Just and Equitable Transition Acceleration (JETA) Project and an undescribed American Catalyst Facility for Development (ACFD) Project.
See the procurement notice here. The notice was issued on the same day as the primary utility and transmission system operator of neighbouring Montenegro, EPCG, said it would launch a 300MWh BESS procurement before the end of the year.
See more news from the Central and Eastern Europe region here.
Intilion and Primeo Energie deploying 65MWh BESS project in Switzerland
System integrator Intilion will provide utility Primeo Energie with 65MWh of its BESS for a project in Solothurn, Switzerland.
The 25MW/65MWh project will provide flexibility to the Swiss power grid, and will be one of the largest in the country, though Intilion did not reveal when it would come online.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, investor Avadis recently acquired a 100MW/120MWh project in Graubünden, set to come online in 2027.
EBRD invests in NGEN’s BESS and VPP project in Croatia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest €16.8 million (€17.6 million) in a direct equity stake in a project to develop a 60MW BESS and virtual power plant (VPP) in Croatia.
The investment, under the development finance institution’s EBRD Direct Finance Framework non SME, will go to a project in Šibenik from independent power producer (IPP) and VPP software firm NGEN and local company IND-EKO PLUS.
The project will also benefit from a €16.5 million capex grant from the EU Modernisation Fund and a similar amount from a financial co-investor.
NGEN will use its VPP platform that it has operationalised in neighbouring Slovenia, where it is headquartered, for the project, as well as take a 50% stake in one of the project company’s subsidiaries related to VPP management.
The project will be the first combined BESS and VPP system on the Croatian market, the EBRD claimed, and will provide critical balancing services to the transmission system operator to balance the grid. The need for balancing services will increase in the future as more renewables come online, it said.
Earlier this year, Energy-Storage.news reported that Croatia’s government would be providing some €500 million in financial support for the rollout of large-scale energy storage.
