Munich brewery flexibilizes with storage

29.11.2024

A battery storage system with 1.8 MW was installed at the Spaten-Löwenbräu brewery to absorb peak loads during beer brewing. This is the third storage system for the brewery group.

The energy service provider EDF Renewables Deutschland has installed a battery storage system with a capacity of 1.8 MW at the Spaten-Löwenbräu brewery in Munich. This is the third project of this kind for the brewery group "AB InBev Deutschland" - which includes the Beck's, Corona and Spaten brands - headquartered in Bremen, and another storage facility is planned, the companies said in their press release on November 27.

The electricity storage system at Spaten Löwenbräu is intended to offer the brewery "maximum flexibility" in order to avoid peak loads. The brewery currently brews its beer using renewable electricity. "For industrial companies that have processes in addition to high electricity consumption that cannot be aligned with high-load time windows defined by the grid operator, battery storage systems offer the necessary flexibility," said Mr. Clotaire Francois, CEO Storage at EDF Renewables Deutschland GmbH.

According to AB Inbev, the implementation of storage systems significantly reduces electricity costs. A large part of these costs are due to rising grid charges, which are based on the highest peak load per year for companies with recording power measurement (RLM). The battery storage systems enable the sites to reduce the peak loads - and thus noticeably reduce the grid fees.

For the brewery group, this is the third of a total of four joint projects with EDF Renewables across Germany. The battery storage system at Beck in Bremen was launched at the beginning of November 2023. The second battery in Wernigerode was put into operation in June 2024. All three systems now installed have a capacity of just under 2 MW.

Over the course of the coming year, a 300-kW battery storage system is to go into operation at the site in Issum (NRW), where Diebels Alt is brewed, among others. In total, the four AB Inbev projects will supply more than 5 MW of battery power.

EDF Renewables Deutschland will bear the investments and risks in the ten-year partnership. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the internationally active EDF Renewables Group from France.

Author: Heidi Roider, E&M powernews