The Buffalo battery is the first large-scale energy storage project based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry in Europe, which provides enhanced safety features and uses less vulnerable natural resources, according to Wärtsilä.

It is co-located with wind and solar assets at the Wageningen University & Research test centre in Lelystad, and will make Eneco’s services more sustainable and add renewable energy on the grid. The energy storage facility will also help to optimise the power system, regulate energy frequency and reliability on the grid, and improve revenues, reports Wärtsilä.

‘Battery storage is critical for the stabilisation of the [Netherlands’] electric grid and imperative for reaching our clean energy goals,’ says Ruud Nijs, CEO of GIGA Storage. The company plans to deploy 3 GW of energy storage in Europe by 2030.

The Dutch government has set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 49% by 2030 and 95% by 2050. It has also committed to eliminating natural gas from its energy mix entirely in favour of cleaner sources. Recent studies suggest that the Netherlands will need 29–54 GW of energy storage capacity by 2050 to support the anticipated increase in renewable energy generation and ensure reliability as the country meets its decarbonisation goals.

The GIGA Buffalo battery, which uses machine learning and data analytics to optimise the complete energy storage system, will store the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of more than 9,000 Dutch households each year, and save up to 23,000 t/y of CO₂ emissions, say Wärtsilä and GIGA Storage.

Financial support needed for energy storage
‘Storage with efficient management systems and digital controls is a crucial element of a reliable, flexible and affordable energy system. However, while initiatives supporting the deployment of advanced energy storage technology continue to grow, they require financial support to succeed,’ comments Wärtsilä.

The company points out, for example, that sustainable energy companies in the Netherlands face a considerable commercial challenge from government rules on energy transmission. Producers in the Netherlands don’t pay taxes when they produce energy, but this exemption does not extend to consumers. ‘So, when a leading Dutch renewable energy customer who is the proud owner of a 25 MW/48 MWh energy storage system supplied by Wärtsilä takes energy from the grid, it is charged as a consumer,’ it says.

‘It costs approximately €70,000/y in transmission charges for 1 MW, for which the total revenue is around €120,000,’ explains Maarten Quist, COO GIGA Storage. ‘That is clearly not a sustainable business model.’

The new Buffalo energy storage system helps to solve this issue as it is co-located with wind and solar assets. ‘As we charge the batteries with solar and wind energy from these parks and discharge when there is no solar or wind energy, there are no transmission costs as we are not consuming from the grid,’ continues Quist.

He is optimistic that transmission charges will eventually change to facilitate larger projects. However, the current rules underline the importance of flexible technologies.

‘We are always looking at new storage options,’ adds Quist. ‘We started with a battery that could be charged or discharged for only 30 minutes. The new GIGA Buffalo battery project by Wärtsilä can be charged or discharged for up to two hours and we anticipate demand for four- and six-hour systems as more renewables are added onto power grids.’

He notes that another attractive feature of the GIGA Buffalo system is that it can be activated in a matter of milliseconds, which means it can feed into the grid much faster than coal-fired plants.