A group of seventeen partners from the energy chain is launching a project to integrate long-term energy storage into the Dutch energy system. In this way, the parties aim to contribute to solutions for grid congestion, price volatility and the growing mismatch between sustainable energy supply and demand.
This is a three-year project set up by the RenewaFLEXNL consortium. The project is implemented by a broad partnership including TNO (coordinator), TU/e, DNV, Vattenfall, Vopak, Nobian, Stedin, Aquabattery, ORE Energy, BB1 Project, HilverdaFlorist, Butterfly Orchid, Emmett Green, EFS, Ecomatters, New Ground Law and Energy Storage NL.
Storing renewable energy for up to 100 hours
Long-term energy storage technologies make it possible to store renewable energy for 8 to 100 hours and deploy it flexibly. Storage thus helps make energy supply more stable by accommodating peaks and troughs in renewable energy generation.
"RenewaFLEXNL focuses on one of the most pressing challenges of the Dutch energy transition: how to integrate large amounts of renewable energy safely and affordably into an already congested system. By combining technology development with practical cases and system analysis, we make long-term storage truly scalable for the Netherlands," explains Iraxte Gonzalez Aparicio, Programme Manager System Transformation at TNO.
Technology and market incentives
Increasing grid congestion and decreasing security of supply make multi-hour storage necessary. The project aims to develop both the technology and market incentives to realise a functioning market for long-term energy storage (LDES).
It also examines how industrial energy users can dynamically and automatically respond to fluctuations in the availability of renewable energy and the capacity of regional power grids.
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is contributing to the project by developing coordination mechanisms and analysis tools for regional energy system integration. This involves working on a standard simulation set based on Digital Twins to analyse system integration cases.
'Essential for periods without wind and solar'
Energy company Vattenfall highlights the importance of storage for the affordability and reliability of the energy system. Although battery technology has greatly improved in recent years, storage is currently still limited to a few hours. Stakeholders call long-term energy storage essential to bridge periods without wind and sun, without depending on fossil fuels.
Within the project, three storage technologies will be tested in practical cases reflecting real-life challenges. These are the following cases:
- A project at the port of Rotterdam around the integration of energy storage with offshore wind energy production to supply green electricity and heat to energy-intensive industries.
- The use of heat and electricity from energy storage to reduce greenhouse gas dependency.
- a combination of renewable generation, energy storage, charging infrastructure for electric trucks and heat supply for greenhouses and local customers.
Three technologies tested
Three technologies will be tested within these cases:
- Aquabattery: a scalable saltwater-based acid-base-flow battery.
- ORE Energy: multi-day energy storage via reversible oxidation of iron.
- BB1 Project: a thermal-electric hybrid system with heat pumps, water-based heat storage and sodium ion batteries.
In addition, the consortium focuses on performing system analyses. These include techno-economic studies, life-cycle analyses and business cases. In addition, the parties involved intend to make recommendations for future regulation, with the aim of maximising the social value of long-term energy storage.
MOOI grant
The project receives funding from the Dutch MOOI programme. This is a subsidy scheme for innovative projects related to energy transition. MOOI stands for Mission-Driven Research, Development and Innovation, and falls under the Dutch Government Agency for Entrepreneurship (RVO). The focus is on accelerating technological breakthroughs needed for a sustainable and climate-neutral energy system.
TenneT, Alliander, Enexis, Havenbedrijf Rotterdam, Glastuinbouw Nederland and various representatives from industry and transport are involved as sounding board partners and stakeholders.
