Stationary storage systems contribute to better integration of renewable energy sources into the energy mix. Electric car batteries are an ideal solution for this. Not only does it ensure a more sustainable energy supply, it also gives batteries no longer suitable for electric cars a second life.
This reports Mobilize, part of Renault Group. Mobilize is a company that offers services around mobility. For instance, the company offers an app that allows users to drive CO2-neutral using a shared car. The app additionally helps electric vehicle owners with smart charging using green electricity. The company also installs charging stations at users' homes. For companies, Mobilize offers green transport and energy management solutions. These include charging infrastructure for a green vehicle fleet.
A key challenge in energy transition is the yield of renewable energy sources. This can vary greatly and depends not only on the time of year, but also the time of day. Currently, therefore, the energy mix still largely consists of a combination of renewables and thermal power plant or even imported electricity. Especially at peak times, these energy sources are tapped.
Storing excess renewable energy
Mobilize wants to reduce this by focusing on the development of storage technologies. This involves storing excess renewable energy. This energy can then be 'injected' into the energy grid at times of high demand. This eliminates the need to use non-sustainable energy sources. Sustainable energy storage also provides a solution to the surplus energy that energy companies face in some cases.
Storage systems enable the storage of this excess energy. In the case of a stationary storage system, such a system is equipped with fixed battery reservoirs. Its counterpart is mobile storage, of which car batteries are an example.
Advanced Battery Storage
The Advanced Battery Storage project is the largest stationary energy storage system ever developed in Europe based on batteries from electric vehicles, reports Mobilize. Thirty to 60 batteries are integrated into a container in this project. The batteries are interconnected and connected to the electricity grid. Each container is good for a capacity of 1 megawatt hour (MWh).
The batteries used in the container are from electric cars. Mobilize combines these used batteries in a container with new batteries. Multiple containers make up the Advanced Battery Storage project. The total system should eventually have 70 MWh of capacity. This is equivalent to the daily consumption of a city of 5,000 inhabitants.
EcarAccu
Mobilize, incidentally, is not the only party betting on stationary energy storage. Another example is EcarAccu. This company gives discarded batteries from electric vehicles a second life. This can be in an energy storage system, but also to a boat. Since March 2021, EcarAccu has been renting out trailers with batteries from electric vehicles to companies, among other things: the eCarPOWER.
Batteries are supplied through Auto Recycling Nederland (ARN). The company demonstrates and reconditions the battery packs. In the process, EcarAccu reuses all parts that are still usable and sends the remaining parts to a recycling company.
Nissan Leaf
Nissan already announced in 2019 that it would reuse discarded batteries from the Nissan Leaf. In doing so, the company stated that the batteries generally last 10 to 12 years longer than a Nissan Leaf itself. So after a Leaf is scrapped, there is still quite a bit of life left in the battery. The average lifespan of a car is said to be around 10 years, while a battery lasts around 22 years, according to Francisco Carranza, managing director of Renault-Nissan Energy Services.
Renault-Nissan Energy Services is also deploying batteries for energy storage systems. In 2018, for example, a storage system with a capacity of 3 MWh has already been opened at the Johan Cruijf ArenA. This storage system powers the stadium. Nissan also offers residential energy storage systems under the brand name Nissan Energy Solar.
Energy storage for trams and electric buses
A third example is batteries from the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro of German carrier ÜSTRA. The company uses old batteries from city buses for energy storage for trams and electric buses. By 2021, a pilot system consisting of about 20 batteries has been realised. The system should support the power supply of both trams and electric buses. Here, the batteries act as a buffer, ensuring, among other things, that the vehicles can keep running even during grid failures. In addition, the system helps absorb peak loads on the power grid.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
