Deutsche Bahn combines battery storage and PV in ICE plant for the first time

26.05.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Deutsche Bahn has equipped its ICE plant in Leipzig with a battery storage system made from old electric car batteries and a PV system in order to reduce energy costs.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has equipped its ICE plant in Leipzig as the first location with a battery storage system made from used battery modules and a photovoltaic system (PV system). The company announced this on May 22. The storage system consists of 30 modules that were previously used in eight electric vehicles. The installed PV system delivers a maximum output of 290 kW. Together, the systems cover around a quarter of the plant's annual electricity requirements.

According to the company, this saves DB around 85,000 euros in energy costs each year. The project is part of the Group-wide S3 refurbishment program, which aims to make maintenance processes more economical. The Leipzig ICE plant mainly maintains trains of the ICE T and Intercity 2 series. Around 275 employees, including 25 trainees, work there in shifts.

Start-up Encore supplies batteries

The battery storage system was developed by "Encore-DB", a start-up of the DB Bahnbau Group. The battery modules used were previously installed in electric cars for five to seven years. They were no longer suitable for mobile use, but were still powerful enough for stationary storage applications. According to DB, the modules are checked before use, reassembled and prepared for stationary operation.

Second-life battery storage systems are suitable for the intermediate storage of energy from solar, wind or hydropower and can be used for many years. The PV system extends across three parts of the plant. According to DB, electricity consumption can be intelligently controlled in combination with the storage system. The system measures the current electricity demand and automatically discharges the storage system as required.

The aim is to cushion power peaks, for example when trains without overhead lines are supplied via the public grid or during work such as turning wheelsets on the underfloor lathe. If more electricity is generated than is consumed, the system feeds the surplus into the public grid. Katrin Habenschaden, Head of Sustainability and Environment at DB, explains: "By modernizing the energy supply at the Leipzig ICE plant, we are demonstrating in very concrete terms how we combine sustainability and economic efficiency."

Expansion of the model planned

The stored solar power can be used when energy demand is particularly high or the sun is not shining. The Group announced that the next plant with a battery storage system would be the Kassel site. Other maintenance depots and DB facilities are currently being examined for potential applications.
According to DB, the ICE depots are central components of the S3 refurbishment program, with which Deutsche Bahn aims to improve the quality, punctuality and reliability of its long-distance trains. Economical maintenance is a prerequisite for this. DB is aiming for climate neutrality by 2040. Since the beginning of 2025, it has been using only green electricity at all stations, workshops, office buildings and other facilities supplied by DB Energie.

Around 70 percent of the traction current for train operations also already comes from renewable energies and is to be completely converted by 2038. According to Deutsche Bahn, long-distance passengers within Germany have been using 100 percent green electricity since 2018.

Author: Susanne Harmsen