Swedish utility firm Vattenfall has signed a deal with the BMW Group for the delivery of up to 1,000 lithium-ion batteries for use in its energy storage projects.
The 33kWh batteries, each equipped with a BMW-owned battery management system, will come from the German OEM’s plant in Dingolfing.
The first project will be a 3.2MW energy storage system at the 122MW onshore wind farm “Princess Alexia” near Amsterdam.
The project will be Vattenfall’s first large storage project in the Netherlands.
Depending on a final investment decision the company may also create a 22MW facility at Vattenfall’s wind farm in Pen y Cymoedd, South Wales.
Energy storage and grid stability are the major topics of the new energy world, said Gunnar Groebler, senior vice president of Vattenfall and Head of Business Area Wind.
“We want to use the sites where we generate electricity from renewable energies in order to drive the transformation to a new energy system and to facilitate the integration of renewable energies into the energy system with the storage facilities. The are in the focus of our work.”
Vattenfall has also announced it will be supporting plans to build Europe’s largest lithium battery factory in Sweden with a SEK 5 million ($566,362) investment in the project company Northvolt.
Andreas Regnell, Vattenfall’s Head of Strategy and member of Northvolt’s advisory board, said: “Vattenfall has a clear strategy of supporting the energy transition and climate-smart solutions. Electricity storage will be a significant factor in the transition, mostly in the transport sector and also the energy system at large. Northvolt is today the most interesting and exciting battery project in Europe.”
Northvolt AB (previously SGF Energy AB) is managed by CEO Peter Carlsson, VP Supply Chain at Tesla.
