A flurry of BESS news from companies operating across Germany and the Netherlands, with Eneco subsidiary Lichtblick launching construction on a 470MWh project in Saxony, Giga Storage inaugurating a project in Amsterdam, and cross-border BESS platform Return raising €300 million (US$347 million).
Both countries are currently a hotbed of large-scale storage development and construction activity, driven by increasing opportunities for the provision of flexibility and energy arbitrage services as more renewables come online. The market trajectories of both are at least partially related to regulatory changes around grid fees for charging and discharging.
Large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) activity in Germany is currently focused on projects for commercial operation by August 2029, up until which time projects are guaranteed to be exempt from such grid fees.
In the Netherlands, meanwhile, activity has picked up since grid operators introduced a ‘flexibilisation’ of grid connections and fees in early 2024.
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Lichtblick starts building 400MWh-plus BESS in Germany
Utility Lichtblick has started building a 100MW/400MWh BESS in Röhrsdorf near Chemnitz, which will be one of the largest in Germany when it comes online in 2027.
It will comprise 84 battery containers from system integrator Fluence, each with a capacity of 5.6MWh (totalling 470MWh), likely its Gridstack Pro 5000. Lichtlblick is investing €100 million in the project.
“Large-scale battery storage systems are a key component of tomorrow’s energy system. With our first large-scale battery storage system, we are making a direct contribution to grid stability and are systematically driving the expansion of decentralized flexibility capacities in Germany,” said Dr. Enno Wolf, COO of LichtBlick.
“High-performance energy storage systems are a boost for the energy transition. By connecting the planned electricity storage system to our 110-kilovolt high-voltage grid, we as distribution system operators are making our contribution to the success of this project,” said Steffen Zerge, head of the Southern Saxony Grid Region at distribution network operator (DNO) Mitnetz Strom.
Once operational, the BESS will be traded in the market by Eneco Energy Trade, an arm of Netherlands-based utility Eneco, the parent company of Lichtblick. Eneco already trades 950MW of BESS capacity in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as a smaller project in Schleswig-Holstein since 2018.
The developer for the project was local firm Energisto eG, which partnered with Lichtblick last year to develop and realise projects in Germany.
Giga Storage inaugurates 10MW/47MWh project in Netherlands
Meanwhile, BESS owner-operator Giga Storage has inaugurated its Giraffe project at the Port of Amsterdam.
The ceremony was attended and posted about on LinkedIn by Gerard Koster of law firm Dentons, along with the picture below.
Giga Storage launched construction on the 10MW/47MWh project in mid-2024. It is also developing and building much larger, 1GWh-plus projects in the Netherlands, in Belgium and has acquired one in Germany too.
The firm has also made use of the time-limited, flexible grid arrangements for projects in the Netherlands.
Return raises €300 million from ABP
Pension investor APG, on behalf of pension fund ABP, has invested €300 million in a minority stake in Netherlands and Germany BESS platform Return.
The investment will help Return to scale up its expansion across Europe. Last month it acquired projects in Germany totalling 310MW/670MWh in capacity from local developer BESSMART, with commercial operation scheduled for 2027. It acquired a 4GW pipeline in Germany in September last year.
The company was an early mover in the Dutch market with its platform SemperPower, which it has now rebranded under its own name. It has what are still the two largest operational BESS projects in the Netherlands and is also an investor in another platform, Lion Storage.
