ADS-TEC from Nürtingen realises the first large-scale battery for grid stabilisation in the Oberallgäu district
The energy revolution has arrived in the deepest reaches of the Allgäu region: The first battery power plant with an output of more than one megawatt was recently commissioned in the remote community of Bruck in the municipality of Bad Hindelang near Sonthofen (Bavaria). The large-scale storage system is connected to the trans-European grid and since February 2018 has been responsible for grid stabilisation.
Unlike conventional power plants, the reaction time of a lithium-ion battery storage system is extremely fast and flexible. In fractions of a second, a large amount of power can be collected from the grid and fed in again. This technology is also already providing a series of economic benefits.
The storage system is a StoraXe complete system from the Nürtingen-based company ADS-TEC. Project engineer Patrick Weiß notes: “Today, the expansion of large-scale battery storage systems for stabilising power supply networks is becoming increasingly important – be it for safeguarding industry or tourism in popular ski resorts.”
The system is housed in two containers and was delivered together with transformer, inverter, control system and climate control technology as a turnkey system within just a few months. Like all previous StoraXe large-scale batteries from ADS-TEC, it was prequalified straightaway. The company from Nürtingen is also responsible for the commissioning and maintenance of the system and took care of planning, construction and installation of the system as well as the design of the individual technical components. As ADS-TEC possesses all of the necessary competences and expertise, starting with the individual cell integration at module level through to IT connection to its own cloud platform, the company was able to provide a highly efficient solution that also enables many interesting business models.
One last challenge was transporting the system through the snow-covered, mountainous countryside with its small bridges and narrow roads to the remote installation site in Bruck next to the hydroelectric power plant of the utility company Allgäuer Kraftwerke GmbH.
The system is an independent commitment of the newly founded project company AllgäuSpeicher GmbH & Co. KG, which comprises the two partners Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH and enesto GmbH and is responsible for operation of the large-scale storage system. Technical and commercial operations management is the responsibility of Allgäuer Kraftwerke GmbH. AllgäuSpeicher made the investment decision on economic grounds and operates without subsidies. As a specialist for professional battery solutions, ADS-TEC is the strategic partner of enesto, a project development company which operates large battery storage systems. The objective is to jointly realise further large-scale storage system projects in Germany and abroad.
