Source: Energy & Management Powernews, 01 September 2022
On the site of Uniper's Staudinger power plant in Großkrotzenburg near Hanau, Uniper and "CMBlu Energy" are starting the construction of a climate-friendly large-scale electricity storage facility in the MW range.
The partners want to set the "missing keystone, without which the energy turnaround cannot succeed" with the pilot project "UNIBLU". The project name is a word composition of the company names Uniper and CM Blu Energy. The three-year project will test a prototype electricity storage system based on CM Blu technology. The site of Uniper's Staudinger power plant near Hanau (Hesse) will serve as the "test center" for large-scale use. The contract for the project cooperation was signed by the partners on August 31 at the company site of the battery manufacturer CM Blu in Alzenau (Bavaria), about eight kilometers east of the future project site.
In the beginning, the plant is to provide an output of 1 MW and a battery capacity of 1,000 kWh and is expected to go into operation next year. If the pilot phase is completed successfully, the partners can imagine expanding the demonstrator into a large-scale power storage system in the double-digit MW range. This could then serve as a blueprint for other power plant sites. For the Bavarian battery manufacturer, the project phase is an opportunity to help the organic flow storage systems developed in-house to qualify in the German electricity market.
For the energy group Uniper, on the other hand, the pilot project is a building block in the transformation of its German generation and storage capacities. "In terms of sustainable climate protection, we need high-performance stationary electricity storage facilities for renewable energy volumes," Arne Hauner emphasized before the contract was signed. The Director Innovation at Uniper described energy storage as one of the most important issues in the energy transition - "It is the spider in the web that brings everything together and enables the temporal decoupling of production and demand."
In addition to Uniper's role as a major player in electricity and gas trading, Hauner pointed to the group's pioneering role in large-scale lithium-ion storage back in 2013, saying that these storage facilities were already in commercial operation and also serving their purpose well in the short-term storage sector. "However, this will not be enough," Hauner assured, referring to seasonal, longer-term storage of fluctuating energy from renewable plants. Uniper therefore looks with "great respect" at CM Blu's sustainable battery storage concept.
No conflict-laden raw materials in use
The battery manufacturer's organic flow storage systems are almost completely recyclable, CTO Nastaran Krawczyk indicated during her presentation. The technology is based on a purely organic electrolyte: CM Blu relies on the raw material lignin, a "component of any plant with structure," explained CEO Peter Geigle. Wood, sugar cane or blades of grass - the molecule can be obtained everywhere. In pulp and paper production, it is a waste product. Not using conflict-laden or rare raw materials for the battery system was a major concern for the company, which has been in existence since 2011, Geigle said.
The flow cell battery is non-flammable and scalable as desired. Five of them could be stacked on top of each other on pallets in a high-bay warehouse because of its safety. For each megawatt hour of storage capacity, 2.5 m2 of space is needed - an "incredibly high energy density," according to Krawczyk. The CTO drew the comparison to the better-known lithium-ion battery of the manufacturer Tesla, which takes up 3.9 m² per megawatt hour.
CM Blu is, according to its own information, one of the world's largest developers of non-lithium-based energy storage in the multi-megawatt range Source: CMBlu Energy The first battery modules are to be installed in the coming months on 300 m2 of the grounds of the Uniper power plant site in Staudinger. In doing so, the partners intend to use the existing infrastructure. As power plant manager Matthias Hube explained, the CM-Blu battery will be connected directly to the Staudinger site's own demand, which is connected to Avacon's 110 kV grid - as part of Staudinger's balancing group.
Uniper describes the Staudinger power plant in Großkrotzenburg as one of its most powerful power plant sites. The power plant has been supplying electricity for almost 60 years. Units 1, 2 and 3 have already been decommissioned in the last decade. Unit 4 and Unit 5 are still in operation and will serve as reserve power plants in the future. Unit 5 (510 MW) is fired by hard coal, unit 4 (622 MW) by natural gas. Decommissioning has been set for May 22, 2023.
Author: Davina Spohn
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