It is with great pride that we announce our first, brand-new and unique battery park. With the commissioning of this advanced battery bark, we are setting a new standard in smart grid management. In doing so, we provide a tangible part of the solution to the growing grid congestion on the Flemish electricity grid. With an investment of €11.3 million, we are taking an ambitious step in the energy transition. At the same time, this project represents the largest battery park ever connected to the Fluvius distribution network. 

Solar and wind energy are growing rapidly and presenting new challenges for the electricity grid, particularly at local and regional levels. During the day, there is often a surplus of green electricity. In the evening, demand peaks. This imbalance leads to grid congestion and slows down new connections. With this battery park, we actively help to ease that problem. 

The park has a capacity of 10 MW and can store 55 MWh of energy. Thanks to the unique 1/5 system, we are able to store energy and/or feed it back into the grid for up to five hours. This is a major difference compared with current battery parks, which often have only two hours of storage capacity. As a result, we can buffer much larger surpluses of renewable energy instead of losing them. 

In practical terms, we store energy when production is high and demand is low, typically during daytime. During peak moments, such as the early evening, we release that energy back into the grid. This smart load shifting relieves pressure on the grid, stabilizes the energy supply so that prices can decline over time, and creates scope for additional connections for both households and businesses. 

We deliberately chose to connect to the distribution grid. In doing so, we take an active role in alleviating grid congestion and stabilizing the (regional) electricity network, whereas larger battery parks are currently connected directly to the high-voltage grid. 

Through this project, we are helping to build a more stable, sustainable and future-proof energy network.