Power firm RWE has launched construction on a 400MW/700MWh BESS project in Bavaria, Germany, the largest being built in the country.
The Germany-headquartered firm announced the start of construction on the project yesterday (29 October), in a ceremony attended by Bavarian Minister-President Dr Markus Söder (pictured above, second from left).
The 1.75-hour duration battery energy storage system (BESS) project is being built alongside the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant, which is undergoing decommissioning, and will use the plant’s existing grid connection.
RWE is investing around €230 million (US$267 million) in the BESS, which will comprise 200 container units and 100 inverters, and is expected online in 2028. It will take the title of largest BESS online from Eco Stor’s 103.5MW/238MWh Bollingstedt, commissioned earlier this year, as well as Eco Stor’s pipeline of 300MW/600MWh projects.
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Söder commented: “Gundremmingen remains a key location in the Bavarian energy supply. In addition to the new battery storage facility, a 55-hectare solar park and a gas-fired power station are also set to be built. With an output of 400 MWand a capacity of over 700MWh, the battery storage facility will stabilise the grid when there is no wind or sunlight.”
Germany has emerged in the past few years as one of Europe’s most attractive markets for large-scale BESS investment, with large opportunities in its wholesale energy market (Europe’s deepest) and helpful regulatory changes including an exemption from charge-discharge grid fees for BESS projects put into operation by 2029.
Those opportunities are set to grow as the country deploys more wind and solar, and solar trade body BSW-Solar recently called for 100GWh of BESS deployments by 2030.
We recently caught up with German BESS platform Terra One to discuss the market drivers, regulatory challenges and the trade-offs when opting for a merchant or toll-based strategy in the country (ESN Premium subscription required).
