RWE builds ultra-fast innovative battery storage system in the Netherlands for grid stabilization
- 7.5 MW system to be built at RWE's Moerdijk power plant
- Two-year pilot phase to stabilize lightning-fast energy grid starts in late 2024
- Battery storage is part of the OranjeWind system integration solutions
RWE is expanding its battery storage business in the Netherlands with innovative grid stability technology. At the location of its power plant in Moerdijk Netherlands' largest power producer has begun installing an ultrafast battery storage system. The battery has a capacity of 7.5 megawatts (MW) and a storage capacity of 11 megawatt-hours (MWh). The system will protect the power grid from excessive frequency anomalies by delivering or withdrawing electricity at lightning speed. This function is called inertia.
The battery in Moerdijk is part of the system integration solutions that are part of Orange Wind, the Dutch offshore wind project that RWE is developing with its partner TotalEnergies.
Marinus Tabak, COO of RWE Generation and RWE Country Chair for the Netherlands: "Our new battery is innovative because it does more than just store energy. With this project, we are testing the delivery of inertia through a battery storage system in the continental European grid. Such systems will play an important role in balancing modern electricity grids in the future. Especially as we increasingly switch to renewable energy and decentralized energy systems across Europe."
In power systems with mainly conventional generation, moment reserve is mainly provided by the inertia of rotating masses of conventional power plants, for example, coal-fired power plants. As conventional generation plants are replaced by renewable energy, the number of rotating generators decreases. Battery storage systems can compensate for this loss of synchronous inertia in the power grid.
At the Moerdijk Power Plant, RWE is installing three lithium iron phosphate battery containers for the battery storage system, which will be connected to the high-voltage grid via the existing grid connection. Thanks to a highly reactive control technology and inverters with grid forming functionality, the battery storage system can provide instant reserve power. The grid forming feature here refers to the ability to take over key functions traditionally performed by conventional power plants to ensure a stable and reliable power grid.
After commissioning in late 2024, the system will be tested for two years. During this pilot phase, grid operator TenneT, as a partner in the project, will further develop the technical requirements and grid compliance procedures for the grid formation function.
Driving the energy transition, RWE develops, builds and operates battery storage systems in the United States, Europe and Australia. The company currently operates battery storage systems with a total capacity of 0.7 gigawatts (GW) and has more than 1 GW of projects under construction worldwide. RWE plans to expand battery storage capacity globally to 6 GW by 2030, as part of its "Growing Green" strategy.
The battery storage facility in Moerdijk is the second battery RWE is building in the Netherlands: the company began construction early this year on a battery storage facility at Eemshaven, with an installed capacity of 35 MW and a storage capacity of 41 MWh.
Source: RWE
