Forward-looking technology: RWE operates state-of-the-art battery storage facility

An investment of six million euros, a storage capacity of 7 megawatts and start of operation in early 2018: those are the key figures for the powerful battery storage system that RWE Generation has installed at the site of its pumped-storage power plant at Hengsteysee lake in Herdecke. The lithium-ion based battery system has been supplied by Belectric, a worldwide leader in the field of energy storage systems.

In total, the battery storage facility comprises three equal systems. Each system consists of a 40-foot container with the battery modules, a converter and a transformer. At the heart of the storage facility are 552 battery modules in total, each with 100 lithium-ion cells from the automotive industry. The batteries can store around 7 megawatt hours of energy and feed it back into the grid for approximately one hour. This is enough power for an electric vehicle to drive around the globe one and a half times. The available capacity of the battery storage facility is registered with transmission system operator Amprion and is marketed from Essen by RWE Supply & Trading.