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Increasingly across Europe demand is out pacing the speed at which grid operators can expand capacity. This, with intermittent renewable generation loading onto the grid can pose a problem. It results in grid congestion and transmission issues leading to possible blackouts. Subsequently, countries are increasing their battery energy storage system (BESS) capacities. Germany’s recent innovation auction awarded 32 contracts, amounting to 408MW, for solar-plus-storage projects. Additionally, the Dutch government recently announced EUR416 million (USD440 million) to support the roll out of ESS to solar farms.
Germany’s Innovation Auction
Bundesnetzagentur, the German Federal Network Agency, last month announced it had awarded 32 solar-plus- storage contracts. The recent innovation tender was oversubscribed with 53 bids and 779MW of capacity received, almost double the 400MW limit set for the auction.
The successful bids receive a premium price per kWh, with bids ranging from EUR0.0776-0.0878/kWh (USD0.083-0.094). A total of 175MW, 21 successful bids, went to solar projects planned in 500-metre-long strips adjacent to motorways and railway lines. Regionally, 19 out of the 32 bids (258MW of the capacity) were awarded in Bavaria.
The closing of this recent tender marks the step-up in deployment of grid-scale of energy storage systems in Germany. A previous tender had closed undersubscribed covering 83.5MW out of 400MW capacity on offer.
The Netherlands
The Dutch government has allocated EUR416 million (USD440 million) of funding to subsidise the construction of large-scale BESS projects attached to solar projects. This includes large ground mounted solar farms as well as large roof top installations. The allocation comes as part of a EUR28 billion (USD30 billion) climate package announced in spring 2023. The government aims to support the implementation of up to 330MW of BESS projects.
A Key to Low Carbon Power
When energy grids were first established, they catered to large, centralised power sources. As grids decarbonise, power generation sources are becoming increasingly decentralised, namely solar and wind. These sources create a more volatile grid, particularly in terms of inertia, power production frequency and grid voltage. Subsequently, as grids upgrade, ESS is required to ensure that clean energy can be utilised efficiently, and grid-balancing services can be provided in-place of traditional generation sources.
Rho’s Evaluation
Rho Motion’s Energy Storage Research Analyst, Pete Tillotson said, “Both Germany and the Netherlands face…
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Image credit: Adobe Stock
Sources: Bundesnetzagentur, TenneT, Transformer Technologies,