Battery giants on the upswing: no energy transition without energy storage systems

The energy transition has a major problem: electricity from wind and sunlight is often produced precisely when it is not needed. Large batteries that store this energy are therefore a key pillar of the energy transition. Their importance is growing rapidly.

Do you remember what you were doing on the evening of April 16, 2024? For most people, it was probably just a normal Tuesday evening. Very few people were probably aware that energy history was being written that evening:   In the US state of California, battery storage systems were for the first time the largest source in the grid - one of the largest electricity grids in the world. According to the data tracker "Grid Status", the output of battery storage systems exceeded six gigawatts for around two hours on Tuesday evening for the first time, and was therefore higher than the output of gas or hydroelectric power plants, nuclear power plants and renewable energies. In comparison: five years ago, the record output of battery storage systems was just 120 megawatts.  

"That is also our goal in the Netherlands," says Jacob Jan Stuyt, Commercial Director and head of the Dutch Developer and Capicity provider SemperPower, emphatically. The 43-year-old character head is standing in the heart of mtu EnergyPacks in Vlissingen in the Netherlands, wearing a safety vest and helmet. The battery storage facility on the South-West coast of the Netherlands is his masterpiece and is one of the largest in Europe. It consists of 168 mtu EnergyPacks QG, which are housed in containers and have a combined output of 30 megawatts and a storage capacity of 63 megawatt hours. This means it can supply electricity for up to 8,750 households.

Rolls-Royce general contractor for large-scale battery storage system

As general contractor, Rolls-Royce was responsible for the construction of the entire battery storage facility in Vlissingen. In addition to the 168 mtu QG EnergyPacks, seven inverters and the intelligent mtu EnergetIQ control platform, the company also supplied the balance-of-plant infrastructure such as the foundations, fencing and lighting. "The team from Rolls-Royce really did a great job here and installed the entire system within nine months," praises Stuyt.

He looks at Tom Kuiper, a specialist in battery storage at Rolls-Royce's Power Systems division. The two of them walk through the plant together. Here, an mtu EnergyPack stands next to them, each one with a capacity of 8 megawatts. The individual mtu EnergyPacks contain so-called racks, which can be imagined as shelves filled with huge lithium iron phosphate batteries. The batteries are supplied by CATL, the world market leader from China and a leading provider of innovative energy technology. Two inverters in the middle of the system ensure that the energy, which is stored in the battery in the form of direct current, is converted into alternating current to the transformers. The electricity is then fed via transformers to a Medium Voltage station onsite supplied by Rolls-Royce, from where it is fed into the public grid.  

mtu EnergetIQ controls the interaction of all components

"This system also works so well thanks to our mtu EnergetIQ control platform," says Tom Kuiper.     "mtu EnergetIQ looks very inconspicuous on this small monitor," he explains as he opens the door to the system's control room and adds: "Without mtu EnergetIQ, the system wouldn't be able to do what it does. mtu EnergetIQ is the brain of the entire system and controls the interaction of all the system's components," explains Tom Kuiper. It is an in-house development from Rolls-Royce. "Our expertise lies not in supplying the individual components, but in linking them together in such a way that our customers can achieve maximum performance with them," says Kuiper.  

mtu EnergyPacks keep the power grid stable

SemperPower does not use the storage units itself, but rents the capacities to customers who use them for energy markets. Their goal is clearly defined: The Dutch electricity grid must be kept stable. The increased use of renewable energies is making this increasingly difficult, as wind or solar energy cannot be switched on or off as required. Nevertheless, the grid must always have the exact amount of energy that is currently required by consumers. “The role of battery storage is unique here,” says Jacob Jan Stuyt, adding: ”Our customers can optimally serve the market wherever the most liquidity is needed. Be it on the intraday market, in the imbalance or in the FCR. This gives the Dutch electricity grid additional stability.”

SemperPower has concluded a long-term maintenance contract, an mtu ValueCare Agreement, with Rolls-Royce to ensure that the batteries are reliably ready for use. In addition to predictive maintenance, this primarily includes capacity guarantees for the first ten years. “With this guarantee from Rolls-Royce, we can in turn guarantee capacity to our customers - that is the basis of our business model,” says Stuyt.

The goal: two gigawatts in five years

He still has big plans for SemperPower. Over the next five years, the company will install two gigawatts of battery storage capacity. "We need the best partners for this - like Rolls-Royce," says Stuyt. Tom Kuiper and his colleagues are also already working on the implementation of the next project. In the fall of 2025, another battery storage system with a similar capacity and performance is due to go into operation in Zeewlde in the Netherlands. "The latest generation of batteries from our partner CATL is already being used here," says Kuiper. This has a higher energy density than the previous models. "Battery technology is developing just as rapidly as the entire battery storage market and it is simply a pleasure to be part of this development," says Tom Kuiper, and his conviction and pleasure are clear to see.  

Large-scale battery storage: gigantic expansion plans

Studies worldwide prove just how right he is. For example, a study by Frontier Economics predicts that the battery storage capacity available in Germany could increase to 15 gigawatts / 57 gigawatt hours by 2030 - that would be 40 times more than at present. By 2050, as much as 271 gigawatt hours are possible. In the UK, 24 gigawatts are planned by 2030, in the USA 100 and in China the 14th Five-Year Plan of the Communist Party also announces 30 gigawatts of battery storage capacity. These figures are set to multiply by 2050.

With so much capacity, it can be firmly assumed that April 16 will not remain an isolated case and that it will soon be the norm for battery storage systems to be the largest source of electricity - when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.