Battery storage secures Dutch power grid

17.06.2025

Source: E & M powernews

A new type of battery storage system in the Netherlands is intended to stabilize the electricity grid - with instantaneous reserve, i.e. extremely quickly available balancing power.

In the Netherlands, a battery storage system with an instantaneous reserve function has gone into operation for the first time. This was announced by the Essen-based energy company RWE. The system is located in Geertruidenberg in the south of the Netherlands on the site of RWE's Moerdijk combined-cycle gas turbine power plant and can feed electricity into the grid or absorb it within milliseconds. According to the Essen-based company, the system is the first battery storage facility of its kind in the Central European electricity grid.

With an installed capacity of 7.5 MW and a storage capacity of 11,000 kWh, the system is technically designed for ultra-fast reactions. The combination of lithium-iron-phosphate cells and inverters with a grid-forming function should make it possible to provide this instantaneous reserve.

Until now, instantaneous reserve has mainly been generated by the rotating masses of conventional power plants, such as coal-fired power plants. With the decommissioning of fossil-fired plants, the need for alternative sources for this grid-supporting function is growing, according to the energy company. The CEO of RWE subsidiary RWE Generation SE, Nikolaus Valerius, sees a growing market for battery storage systems in the future. The new plant is an example of how battery technology is also capable of taking over the tasks of conventional turbines, said Valerius.

Blueprint for projects on an international scale

The battery storage system is part of the "OranjeWind" project, an offshore wind project by RWE and the French energy group Total Energies. It is being built off the Dutch North Sea coast and is intended to feed electricity from renewable sources into the grid in the long term. RWE sees the storage facility in the Netherlands as a blueprint for similar projects on an international scale.

Parallel to commercial operation, a two-year pilot phase is running in Moerdijk. The aim is to define technical standards for future storage facilities capable of providing instantaneous reserves. Together with the transmission system operator Tennet, RWE intends to develop procedures for testing grid conformity and grid-forming properties.

According to RWE, it is one of the largest providers of battery energy storage systems worldwide. The Group currently operates storage systems with a total capacity of around 1,200 MW. The storage systems are used in the USA, Europe and Australia. In addition to solar and wind power projects, the focus of investment is on expanding this area.

Author: Davina Spohn