Germany draws more than 20% of its electric power from renewable energy sources: it is dedicated to developing renewables and is now slowly waking up to energy storage to integrate renewables with the electrical grid. Assistant Editor Ruth Williams talks to Younicos about building the first 5MW battery park in northern Germany and asks is it cost effective?
Germany is undergoing “Energiewende”,— a transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy for a more sustainable future. It has the highest density of wind power capacity in Europe, with more than 23, 000 wind turbines as well as millions of solar panels.
On a windy or sunny day solar panels and wind turbines can now theoretically supply up to half the country’s electricity demand. None of that power is truly despatchable, so electrical energy storage, to firm up those renewables is finally getting to see the light of day. The commissioning of Europe’s first fully automated 5MW battery park to integrate renewable sources into the grid cements the country’s commitment to its Energiewende mission.
Berlin-based Younicos, a company of environmental idealists, first came to the attention or the electrical energy storage world, in 2009. The company designed and built a stand-alone energy network with up to 100 % renewables, on the Azores island of Graciosa.
The system, built around sodium sulphur batteries has been developed over the past four years guarantees a reliable supply for 4,700 residents’ annual electricity needs. Younicos says in its mission statement: “let the fossils rest in peace” and has a vision of a clean energy solutions for the planet.
Its latest project is a turnkey 5MW battery park in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, for German power utility, WEMAG, which has nearly 800MW of capacity powered by renewable sources in the region and the duty will be frequency regulation.
At the heart of the system are Samsung SDI lithium-ion cells that will balance the fluctuations in supply and load demand of solar and wind energy. The battery power plant will be connected to a 110-KV substation at Schwerin, to integrate it into the regional distribution grid and connect it to the next-level 380-KV high voltage grid. The building of the battery park is due to commence within the next month, and will take a year to complete.
While exact costs have not been disclosed, Younicos has a list price of €15 million for a 10MW plant, so the cost is going to be about half of that. As the first product of its kind, Younicos is eligible for a one off 20% subsidy from the German government toward the cost of building the battery park. This innovation fund to kick-start and enable the new technology comes from the Environmental Agency.
Batteries help power the Energiewende
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