Electricity is stored in Belgium to manage peaks and protect the climate
They aren’t very impressive a priori, and yet these white pots installed on the outskirts of a small Belgian town constitute the largest electricity storage plant in continental Europe, able to meet the country’s peak demand without using gas or gas. fat.
Well hidden behind a grassy embankment, the site, connected to the public grid, now contributes to Belgium’s electricity supply and thus regulates the frequency on the interconnected European grid.
With 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage, equivalent to the needs of 8,000 households, it still acts as a stabilizer today, provided mainly by oil- or gas-fired power plants.
Jean-Philippe Deckers, head of the operator Elia, explains that “battery storage is very important to get rid of fossil fuels, because it allows renewable energies to be better integrated by reducing the negative effects of interruptions and optimizing the infrastructures” of the Belgian high-voltage electricity grid.
“It will play a big role in the energy transition and is part of our vision,” he said at the opening of the buildings in Deux-Acren, between Brussels and Tournai, on Thursday.
Connected to a high-voltage line, 40 containers filled with Tesla lithium-ion batteries manufactured in Nevada store and receive electricity from the grid on demand.
Lithium-ion technology was chosen because of its maturity, explains Michael Coudyser, managing director of Corsica Sole, a leading player in photovoltaics and storage, which designs and operates the site: “we know these batteries will last at least ten years.”
Noise-reducing dams protect neighbors from the drone of fans. He said it was less bad “next to the aircraft engine” that had to be operated to mobilize the adjacent fuel tank. This tank needs to be shut down soon.
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“If we want to break away from gas, which is driving up the price of electricity, we need storage,” Mr. Coudyser said, citing a feature of the European electricity market, where prices today are the same as gas prices when on demand. is strong.
But beyond that, the storage and return of electrical energy will be one of the key themes of the energy transition, as it will determine the development of renewable energies by smoothing their power changes during the same day as they pass over the cloud. solar panels or wind deceleration…
Storage also allows energy produced during low consumption to be saved and re-pumped during times of high demand. More than a week, Sunday, to save less consumption day.
The UK, an island that relies heavily on green energy, has understood this well and is well ahead of the pack.
“A world without fossil fuels is necessary, and a 100% renewable world is possible. But if we want lots of renewable energy, we’ll also need lots of storage,” concludes Mr Coudyser.
But it is expensive: 33 million euros for the Deux-Acren site, 80% of which is financed for batteries, without subsidies. With sales in the electricity market, it will take about 7 years to become profitable.
To be able to build it in less than a year, the management company Mirova, a subsidiary of Natixis-BPCE specializing in sustainable development and already a shareholder of Corsica Sole, raised the amount before the arrival of Edmond de Rothschild bank.
“The need for the development of renewable energy sources has never been greater during the energy crisis, the need for energy sovereignty and the fight against climate problems, and it will not be realized without major investments,” comments Raphaël Lance by Mirova.
However, there is no question at this stage of considering the storage of very large volumes in this form: very expensive, underline energy players like Corsica Sole who are betting on hydrogen to be able to store energy more massively. it comes from the wind and the sun.
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