Fluence Energy and TransnetBW have announced future deployment of the Grid Booster project, touted as the world’s largest battery-based energy storage-as-transmission project.
Image: Fluence
The 250MW Netzbooster (Grid Booster) project is being deployed in the hopes of increasing network utilisation across the German transmission system by using battery-based energy storage.
The project will be deployed by Fluence Energy GmbH, a subsidiary of global provider of energy storage products and services and cloud-based software for renewables and storage, Fluence Energy, Inc., and German TSO TransnetBW GmbH for the Baden-Württemberg area.
According to Fluence Energy, the project will improve energy security and significantly support Germany’s energy transition pathway by increasing the efficiency of existing grid infrastructure.
Grid Booster project
The Netzbooster project will lower the number of required preventive measures in system operation, while also increasing the utilisation of the electricity grid, thus reducing the need for traditional network reinforcement and expansion.
The system will also ease bottlenecks stemming from transporting wind energy from Germany’s north to the country’s southern load centres. In the event of a failure in the transmission grid, the system will react within milliseconds, according to the partners, to provide back-up capacity to maintain power system stability.
To support the transmission network, the system will deliver a suite of complex services, including synthetic inertia, dynamic voltage control, contingency support and congestion management among others.
The use of energy storage to support transmission and distribution networks is expected to scale quickly, as network congestion caused by increasing renewable penetration will require greater grid reinforcement and release interventions.
“We are proud to work with TransnetBW, a forward-thinking TSO that leads the way in the application of innovative technologies that futureproof power networks, stabilise energy costs to end-users and increase renewable deployments. Realising the Netzbooster project marks a turning point to accelerate the buildout of energy storage at the transmission network level in Germany and across Europe,” said Paul McCusker, senior vice president & president EMEA at Fluence.
“We look forward to delivering this highly complex energy storage application at a scale required to support the country’s energy transition. Given the current energy crisis impacting Europe and the focus on accelerating renewable buildout under the RePowerEU plans, the deployment of this project is more urgently needed than ever,” added McCusker.
The initiative was first introduced in 2019 as a concept under the 2030 German grid development plan. It aims to allow for the more efficient operation of existing transmission infrastructure and lower preventive redispatch measures. This will reduce the need for conventional network reinforcement and operating costs, thus decreasing network charges and energy costs to consumers.
The 250MW battery-based energy storage system, supplied by Fluence, will be located at Kupferzell, a major grid hub. It is planned for completion in 2025 and will reduce operating costs of Germany’s transmission system.
This new application in Germany is further hoped to serve as a proof-of-concept highlighting the value of battery-based energy storage for enhancing transmission infrastructure and driving deployment throughout Germany, Europe and across the world.
“Working with TransnetBW to deliver this Netzbooster project will result in a critical contribution to the country’s energy security and the stabilisation of energy costs,” stated Markus Meyer, managing director at Fluence Energy GmbH.
