Spanish utility Endesa is to re-use batteries taken from Nissan Leaf electric vehicles in a “pioneering” storage system at its Melilla power plant.
Endesa said the system at the oil- and gas-powered plant, in the Spanish enclave city of Melilla in Morocco, will use more than 90 interconnected batteries from EVs to create a 4 megawatt storage unit with a with a maximum storage capacity of 1.7 megawatt-hours.
The system will work to shore up power supply in Melilla, a particularly necessary measure as the city is isolated from the wider electrical network.
Nissan and Endesa have previously collaborated on a vehicle-to-grid system, which allowed owners of Nissan EVs to re-sell energy from their vehicles back to the grid during periods of peak demand.
In the last year, Endesa has also developed its thermal power station in Carboneras, which now features a 20MW lithium-ion-based storage system with a 11.7MWh production capacity. The utility is also considering a similar facility for another of its power stations.
