Siemens to add battery storage as part of gas power plant overhaul

By John Parnell
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
The SGT-800 industrial gas turbine installed at the BASF site. Source: Siemens.

Siemens will install a battery storage system as part of the overhaul of a gas power plant for chemicals giant BASF.

As well as replacing the gas turbines at the industrial power plant in Schwarzheide, Germany, a SIESTART battery system has been installed to provide blackstart capabilities. Siemens will also provide a 15-year service contract.

“Adapting the new gas turbine to the existing plant and carrying out the other necessary renovations require complex individual planning and extensive engineering expertise,” said Thorbjörn Fors, CEO of the Service Distributed Generation and Oil & Gas within Siemens Gas and Power. “Siemens is one of the few suppliers on the market with all the manufacturing and engineering skills needed to reliably implement such a demanding project.”

The battery system will be provided by Fluence, the joint venture between AES and Siemens. The company said BASF will benefit from blackstart capabilities, islanding, if required, and a more reliable power supply.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The site at Schwarzheide currently has two gas turbines for power and two Siemens steam turbines providing steam for BASF manufacturing and processing activities. BASF has ordered one efficient 57MW gas turbine, which Siemens says will reduce both costs and carbon.

“We are pleased to work with Siemens for the modernization of our combined cycle power plant. We continue our long-term partnership with this project,” said Jürgen Fuchs, Chairman of the Management Board of BASF Schwarzheide GmbH.

Read Next

November 13, 2026
US distributed energy resource (DER) installer Sunrun has announced a preferred equity investment with energy investment firm Captona.
November 13, 2026
Another edition of our BESS Industry Buzz, this week looking at new details on CATL’s sodium-ion technology, BESS availability, BAAJA trade-offs and the price of speed to power.
November 12, 2026
As data centre demand surges, utilities and developers are turning to distributed energy resources (DERs) to ease grid strain.
November 12, 2026
Stadtwerke Gaggenau, a municipal utility in Germany, has hired a general contractor to build a 4-hour BESS project using the zinc-bromide technology from US firm Eos Energy Enterprises.
November 12, 2026
Software-focused energy storage system integrator FlexGen will serve as the integrator of MN8 Energy’s solar-plus-storage project in Kanawha, West Virginia, US, using solutions from Eos Energy Enterprises.