RWTH Aachen University, Lecture Hall (on left) built in a former power station. (Credit: RWTH Aachen University)The E.ON Energy Research Center at RWTH Aachen University, energy utility E.ON SE, battery manufacturer Exide Technologies GmbH’s GNB Industrial Power division, battery manufacturer beta-motion GmbH, and inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology AG will build this year in Aachen a worldwide unique modular battery energy storage system with a power range of five megawatts.
The project named “Modular Multi-Megawatt Multi-Technology Medium-Voltage Battery Storage” or M5BAT will receive €6.5 million in funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
What makes M5BAT distinctive is its modularity, which enables it to optimally combine a variety of battery technologies. It uses high-output lithium ion batteries for short-duration discharge, high-temperature batteries for medium-duration discharge, and lead-acid batteries for short- and medium-duration discharge.
The M5BAT’s power range and high degree of modularity will make it to a worldwide unique battery storage system and open up a broad range of applications. Initially, the project will focus on the following applications: renewables integration, testing of distributed regulating energy provision to promote grid stability, and power price arbitrage.
“The growth of renewables in Germany is making smart grids and large-scale energy storage technologies increasingly more important,” said Leonard Birnbaum, member of the E.ON Board of Management responsible for technology issues. “Since a number of years, E.ON, through its Technology and Innovation (T&I) activities, has been investing in a broad spectrum of technologies of the future. Battery storage systems are particularly interesting because, unlike compressed-air storage or pumped-storage hydro, they aren’t subject to narrow geographic constraints and don’t require long planning cycles.”
