LEW and Bayernwerk Natur with new large-scale storage facility
07/28/2023
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
The 7-MW large-scale storage facility, which the Bavarian energy suppliers LEW and Bayernwerk Natur have put into operation, serves purely as market storage. They would also like to use it several times.
"Battery storage is the Swiss army knife for the energy transition," said Franco Gola, managing director of Bayernwerk Natur on the occasion of the presentation of the latest joint project of Bayernwerk Natur GmbH and Lechwerke AG (LEW): In the Upper Bavarian town of Meitingen near Augsburg, the energy suppliers, both of which belong to the Eon Group, have jointly built a 7-MW battery storage system.
The two containers consist of 700 lithium-ion batteries and are located in the immediate vicinity of the Meitingen hydroelectric power plant and the LEW Verteilnetz substation. The grid connection is provided by the neighboring SGL Carbon, manufacturer of graphite and fiber composites. The partners shared the investment costs of around 15 million euros in equal parts, and they expect the plant to operate for around 15 years.
The new large-scale storage facility serves purely as a market storage facility: the capacity of around 7,400 kWh is marketed fully automatically both in intraday trading and on the balancing energy market.
Five years ago, Bayernwerk had already placed a focus on storage technologies, and since then, possible storage solutions have been considered in every project, Gola said. The market has enormous potential, he said. "But growth can only be achieved if the environment becomes more storage-friendly." In particular, he said, the fact that not all the possibilities of the "Swiss Army Knife" can be used, given the legal framework, is problematic. "If you have such an asset, then you have to use it. With a car, after all, you don't just drive in first gear." "
The multiple use of storage systems would be an important step for the further development of the overall system," LEW board member Dietrich Gemmel also addressed the regulatory requirements that currently made it impossible to use the systems simultaneously for storing locally generated electricity and for market participation. "Holistic solutions that optimize generation and consumption as well as tap additional potential - that is our focus as LEW."
In the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs at least, the demands have now been heard. Sabine Jarothe, the head of the ministry there, was also present at the presentation of the large-scale storage facility. The promotion of storage technologies is "a matter of the heart of the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs and the entire ministry," she said. "We need storage facilities to be able to use volatile power."