Germany's rapidly growing battery market was expected to reach 700 MW storage capacity this year with large utility-scale projects set to almost double, according to data by storage lobby group BVES.
* Utility-scale batteries to double to 323 MW by end-2018
* Home battery storage forecast to reach 385 MW
* Lobby estimates market volume above Eur3 billion
With 15 projects currently under construction, some 323 MW of large utility-scale battery projects were forecast to be operational by the end of 2018 with another 110 MW to be realized early next year, according to a recent BVES presentation.
In addition, the home battery storage market has continued to surge with some 385 MW of home battery systems forecast online by the end of 2018, up from 280 MW by end-2017 across 85,000 individual home units, it said, based on market research by consultancy Team Consult.
Annual volumes for solar home battery system have more than tripled since 2015 when Tesla launched its Powerwall, a wall-mounted battery storage system in combination with a solar roof.
At the same time, costs for battery system have halved since 2014, solar lobby group BSW said last week, adding that every other solar-roof installed now came with a battery system, receiving additional subsidies.
Average household battery systems have storage capacity of around 4 kW, enough to meet the electricity needs of a 3-4 person family during evening and night hours.
Utility-scale batteries are primarily used for the balancing market, with many projects now in the above 10 MW range.
INCREASINGLY LARGER BATTERIES
Germany's largest single battery storage project, a 48 MW li-ion battery system at Jardelund near the border with Denmark announced last year, was on track for commissioning in the second quarter.
A similar project primarily intended for the German balancing market is to be developed by UK-based RES Group at Bordesholm. The 10 MW facility was expected to have an annual planned income of around Eur1 million ($1.2 million), the developer said in January.
Germany, with its volatile portfolio of wind and solar set to reach the 100 GW mark this spring, is seen as key in developing battery storage systems with especially northern and eastern Germany facing grid stability issues amid large fluctuations in wind power output.
Energy storage lobby group BVES has said the government should specify how it planned to integrate storage solutions into the power market by improving access to the balancing market as well as cutting grid usage fees for such installations.
POWER-TO-GAS NOT VIABLE AS YET
BVES estimated the current market volume for battery storage in Germany at around Eur3 billion including heat storage and power-to-gas applications, which at 20 MW still lag behind.
However, Shell and UK-based ITM Power plan to build the world's largest hydrogen electrolysis plant at the Rhineland refinery in Germany with a capacity of 10 MW and a total investment of around Eur20 million. The project is scheduled to be in operation in 2020.
Germany's biggest operating power-to-gas unit -- a 6 MW unit Energiepark Mainz at Hechstheim -- last week secured its long-term future, with Stadtwerke Mainz continuing to operate the project following a pilot project by Linde and Siemens since 2015 financed by Eur17 millions of research grants to develop the technology.
According to the developers, current framework conditions for this technology were not enough to make it economic viable.
Economic framework conditions were also challenging for Germany's biggest power storage technology with hydro pump-storage capacity accounting for over 6,300 MW capacity, according to the storage lobby.
The key challenge for pump-storage is the power grid, with the storage reservoirs often located far from wind-rich coasts.
Germany's power grid expansion lagging behind rapid wind growth creates bottlenecks and lifts grid fees, reducing the margins of those plants amid flattening peakload/offpeak ratios. - Platts -