Construction has started on a 30MW/63MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in the Netherlands from Rolls-Royce, which will be the largest in the country when complete.
Developer SemperPower has launched the start of construction for Project Castor, a 2.1 hour-duration system at an energy hub of the North Sea Port in Vlissingen-Oost in the southeast of the country. The system will come online in the spring of 2023.
Aerospace and defence company Rolls-Royce is providing the BESS under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement. The system will support the integration of new renewable energy resources into the Dutch grid. A press release was not more specific, but this could be done by alleviating the intermittency of wind and solar as well as providing frequency response services.
SemperPower commissioned its first utility-scale energy storage system 12 months ago when it turned on a 10MW system in Terneuzen, Netherlands (pictured).
Rolls-Royce has been delivering BESS solutions for several years now through its Power Systems division. In 2020, Energy-Storage.news reported on projects the company was delivering in Costa Rica and Rarotonga in the South Pacific, but the new project in the Netherlands is substantially larger.
It eclipses the size of GIGA Buffalo, the largest operational system in the country today at 24MW/48MWh, which came online in October.
Andreas Görtz, President Sustainable Power Solutions, Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “With our new utility-scale battery storage systems that support the integration of renewable energy sources into the power supply, we are taking another step with our customers towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. We are very much looking forward to working with SemperPower on Project Castor.”
The Netherlands has a particularly congested grid, being one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, so some local regions have reached limits for the feed-in of new wind and solar. To get around this, some battery storage operators are exploring time-limited contracts with grid operators where they can only charge or discharge at certain periods to alleviate grid strain.
Triodos Bank and The Dutch National Fund for Green Investments are providing the project financing.
Emile Peters, investment manager for The Dutch National Fund for Green Investments, added: “Energy storage systems for renewable energy are relatively new. Consequently, it is challenging for financiers to properly assess the associated risks, generally resulting in avoiding financing such projects altogether.”
“The Dutch National Fund of Green Investments, in this case together with Triodos, aims to finance sustainable pioneers like SemperPower, so that they can focus on accelerating the energy transition.”