Infrastructure investor I4B and utility Luminus have closed the financing and launched construction on a 150MW/600MWh BESS project in Belgium.
The financial close means the companies broke ground earlier this month (5 June) on the 4-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Navagne, Visé, located in the province of Wallonia, eastern Belgium.
Commenting on the announcement, André Autrand, CEO of I4B, said that the infrastructure fund was investing €30 million (US$34.7 million) into the project, indicating it is only a minority investment.
Autrand added: “The project addresses fundamental challenges related to security of the electricity supply, balancing the grid, renewable energy development and decarbonisation – all of which will benefit Belgian households as well as the industry and economy in general.”
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Mathieu Bihet, the Federal Minister of Energy of Belgium who attended the groundbreaking, said: “I would like to congratulate Luminus on this ambitious project, which perfectly embodies what our energy system needs today: flexibility and resilience.”
The Navagne BESS will be located next to the Lixhe hydroelectric power station and will connect to the grid via an existing connection line. Adjustments made to the line to accommodate the BESS will help other companies connected upstream of the Lixhe station, Luminus said.
The project is part of Luminus’ Electrify2030 programme, its strategy to decarbonise its network. It will provide grid-balancing services, manage peak electricity demand supply and help balance renewable energy generation.
Belgium is one of Europe’s most developed markets for large-scale energy storage, with grid-scale lithium-ion BESS projects being deployed starting in 2020/21. 2025 has seen the start of construction on a 440MWh project from owners BStor and Energy Solutions Group and a 400MWh from utility and power generation firm Engie.
Although primarily a merchant market, as discussed by BStor with Energy-Storage.news at the time, there are also long-term contracted revenue opportunities via the Capacity Market (CM), which Engie’s project has secured.
