- Storage capacity at the site will increase to 1.35 gigawatt hours
- Systems will help to dampen electricity price spikes
- Super-fast inverters also enable the battery storage system to provide inertia
Where RWE generated electricity from hard coal until 2021, the company will store electrons in future. On the site of the Westfalen power plant in Hamm (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia), RWE is building three new battery parks with a total installed capacity of around 600 megawatts (MW) and a storage capacity of 1.2 gigawatt hours. RWE is investing a mid three-digit million euro sum for the construction.
The systems can generate their maximum output for up to two hours at a time. Together with the battery storage system that went into operation in February, the site in Hamm will have a storage capacity of 1.35 gigawatt hours in future. This would be enough to charge more than 23,000 average e-cars.
Nikolaus Valerius, CEO RWE Generation SE: ”With the expansion of renewable energies, the need for technologies that can instantly counteract imbalances in the electricity grid is increasing. Battery storage systems are ideal for this because they are fast and efficient. The massive expansion of our storage capacity at the Westfalen power plant will make Hamm the battery storage flagship location of Germany. Our facilities will make an important contribution to stabilizing the energy market by efficiently storing surplus energy and feeding it into the grid in a targeted manner - with a dampening effect on electricity prices for consumers and industry.”
Marc Herter, Mayor of the city of Hamm: ”The energy transition in Germany needs secure storage capacities and Hamm has a key role to play in this: the additional large-scale battery storage facilities on the site of the Westfalen power plant in Uentrop will ensure that the grid remains stable and short-term fluctuations can be balanced out cost-effectively. With the additional storage capacities, the Uentrop energy site is once again proving its indispensability in the new renewable energy world. In addition to the ‘large green socket’ that AMPRION will build with the converter in Uentrop and the 1.2 gigawatt hours of battery storage capacity that RWE is adding at the site, we are ensuring that the energy transition is up and running at the site in a very practical way.”
The battery storage systems will help to balance and stabilise the electricity grid. In addition, the systems are already designed to provide new grid services. By using state-of-the-art control technology and super-fast inverters, the new battery storage systems can provide balancing power within milliseconds. This system service is referred to as instantaneous reserve or inertia.
Maintaining grid stability is becoming increasingly challenging with the growing share of renewable energies in the energy system. This is why inertia is becoming increasingly important as the fastest available balancing energy in the grid system. Inertia has mainly been provided by rotating masses of turbines, traditionally from coal-fired power plants. As renewable energies continue to replace conventional generation plants, the number of rotating generators is decreasing. Battery storage systems can compensate for this loss of inertia.
Together, the three planned battery fields will cover an area of more than six hectares. RWE will install more than 25,000 lithium-iron batteries (LFP) in 316 overseas containers.
Initial preparatory construction activities are underway with the new battery systems scheduled to go into operation between 2026 and 2028.
Battery storage at RWE
As a driver of the energy transition, RWE develops, builds and operates battery storage systems in the USA, Europe and Australia. The company currently operates battery storage systems with a total capacity of around 1,200 megawatts (MW). As an integral part of its growth strategy, RWE plans to significantly expand its battery storage capacities worldwide.