Independent power producer (IPP) Neoen and system integrator Nidec have started construction on a 93.9MW/93.9MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Sweden, the largest in the country.
Paris-headquartered Neoen has given full notice to proceed to Nidec following an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement in December 2023, and the project is expected to come online in the first half of 2025.
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The 1-hour duration BESS project, called Isbillen Power Reserve, will be the largest in Sweden and the largest in the Nordics by megawatt (MW) power. The largest by megawatt-hours energy capacity in the Nordics will be a 2-hour project in Finland that Neoen recently started building (Premium access), with a capacity of 112.9MWh, and that is also set to come online at the start of 2025.
Isbillen is located in Västernorrland, just 6km from another Neoen BESS, the 52MW/52MWh Storen Power Reserve, which has nearly been completed, the firm said.
The Isbillen BESS will mainly provide ancillary services, specifically Frequency Containment Reserve, to Swedish transmission system operator (TSO) Svenska Kraftnät. It will be connected to the 130kV grid area operated by distribution system operator (DSO) E.ON Energidistribution.
Nidec will provide the BESS which it will manufacture and assemble in France while the inverters will be built in Italy. More than “half of the value of the project” will be of European origin, Neoen said.
Energy-Storage.news recently interviewed two flexibility services providers – ancillary services as well as demand response – Flower and Flextools about the energy storage market in Sweden.
BESS in Sweden primarily target the ancillary services market and its size is such that a market saturation is not expected for several years, so projects are still generally only one hour in duration. That is in contrast to neighbouring Finland, where Neoen opted for a 2-hour system for its recent project; local optimiser Capalo AI discussed the market dynamics behind this in our coverage.
Some 200MW of grid-scale BESS is set to come online in Sweden this year according to Flextools, including a 20MW project deployed by Alfen at a wind farm operated by Vasa Vind, announced last week.
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