RWE has finalised its investment decision for a battery storage project in the Netherlands that will optimise the OranjeWind offshore wind farm’s integration into the Dutch energy system. The company plans to invest approximately EUR 24 million into the project.
The system, which will have an installed power capacity of 35 MW and a storage capacity of 41 MWh, will consist of a total of 110 lithium-ion battery racks that will be installed at RWE’s biomass plant in Eemshaven and will be virtually coupled with RWE’s power plants in the Netherlands.
The construction of the battery storage is scheduled to start in late 2023, with the system expected to supply control energy from 2025.
RWE secured the development and construction of the OranjeWind project off the Dutch coast in November 2022, when the company won the right to build and operate a subsidy-free offshore wind farm in the Dutch tender for the Hollandse Kust West (HKW) VII site.
The developer said last year that it planned for the 760 MW offshore wind farm to provide surplus electricity to power green hydrogen production on land and to incorporate floating solar panels to allow a more efficient use of ocean space, as well to combine the project with other solutions such as battery storage.
“The battery project is an important step towards a portfolio of innovative demand assets to optimally integrate the weather-related fluctuating power generation profile of the ‘OranjeWind’ offshore wind farm into the Dutch energy system” , RWE said in a press release on 21 September, announcing its decision to invest into the battery storage project.
Earlier this month, RWE and Dutch transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT signed offshore grid connection agreements for OranjeWind that cover the realisation of the grid connection and the transmission of the electricity produced by the offshore wind farm on TenneT’s platform.
The OranjeWind offshore wind farm, to be built 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast, is expected to start producing renewable electricity in 2027.