Battery Storage for the Energy Transition in Aachen

As the share of renewable energies in the electricity mix increases, so does volatility. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to store energy on a large scale.

Battery storage technologies are a sensible option. They can help to integrate renewables into the energy system by offsetting their fluctuating, difficult-to-predict generation capacity in the short term. The modular battery storage M5BAT in Aachen, Germany, is ideally suited to test the technical and economic suitability of large-scale battery storage systems. The project started in July 2013 and will run until December 2018. As part of this joint project, Uniper and its partners have installed a stationary battery system in a specially converted building.

The battery system has a storage capacity of 5 MWh and bundles various battery storage technologies. We are currently testing the application possibilities and economic viability of the different battery technologies. The knowledge gained from this project will help us design future strategies for the use of battery storage, deploying the battery technology best suited to meet the local requirements. M5BAT is located next to a transformer and RWTH Aachen University research centres. The battery storage system will be used in various markets for research purposes, for example to provide primary control power. This energy storage system project provides important insights for the entire energy industry and contributes to making battery technologies usable for the energy transition. This is underlined by the partial funding of the project by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).