German power grid operators plan gigantic batteries to ease grid congestion – report
Spiegel Online
German grid operators plan to build three gigantic batteries with combined discharge capacity of 900 megawatts (MW) to relieve grid congestion from 2025, Manuel Berkel reports for Spiegel Online. The largest project, of 500 MW, would be five times the size of Tesla’s Australian battery park in Adelaide, which was the world’s largest when it was switched on in 2017.
Energy industry insiders put the German projects’ combined cost at around 1 billion euros, according to Spiegel. The batteries could boost the capacity of existing power lines, reducing the need for expensive and controversial grid extensions and cutting redispatch costs, the article says. The plans must first be approved by Germany’s grid agency (BNetzA) and parliament. The grid operators’ report warns that the technology “is not yet available” and batteries on this scale will be expensive.
The “Grid Development Plan 2030” (NEP) by operators TenneT,TransnetBW, 50Hertz and Amprion also says Germany will need an additional 1,600 km of transmission lines and the refurbishment of another 2,900 km by 2030.
