RWE starts work on 117MWh battery storage facility in Germany

The system will be virtually coupled with the energy company’s run-of-river power stations, which will boost the capacity of the batteries by an additional 15%

RWE has started construction on a battery storage project, with a total capacity of 117MWh, in Germany.

The €50 million (£43m) system is being installed across two locations and coupled with hydropower stations in Lingen in Lower Saxony and Werne in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The system – at the Gersteinwerk in Werne which will have a capacity of 72MWh and the one at Emsland station in Lingen which will have a 45MWh capacity – consists of 420 lithium-ion battery racks, housed in 47 overseas shipping containers.

They will be virtually coupled with RWE’s run-of-river power stations along the river Mosel and by increasing or decreasing the flow-through at these power plants, it can make additional capacity available and also help balance energy.

This coupling process raises the total capacity of the batteries by an additional 15%.

Roger Miesen, CEO of RWE Generation said: “Battery storage systems are essential to the success of the energy transition. They help balance out fluctuations in the power grid, which are increasing as the share of renewable energies grows.

“Our project is setting new standards and shows how we can offer the market even more flexibility by intelligently linking up battery capacity with run-of-river power stations.”

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