Shift to a new energy system - Volkswagen plans to establish a major electricity storage site in northern Germany.
Volkswagen Group moves into large-scale battery storage for the power grid. Their first "Power Center" will be up and running in Germany next year, storing green electricity, announced Tech Board member Thomas Schmall in Berlin on Friday. It'll be located in northern Germany, with groundbreaking happening within the next few weeks. "We'll go online at the beginning of next year", said Schmall.
Elli, a VW subsidiary, will manage the facility. Initial capacity is set at 700 megawatt-hours, expandable up to a gigawatt-hour - equal to a gas power plant. More "Power Centers" will be rolled out, opening up a new business field in a growing market.
Batteries are used as buffers for wind and solar energy, stabilizing the power grid. "Our investments in stationary battery storage are crucial for the green transition in energy supply", said Schmall, noting that wind turbines and solar panels need to be shut down during oversupply which can be alleviated with large battery storage systems.
VW expects the demand for such facilities in Germany to increase tenfold in the next few years. Currently, there's only a single gigawatt-hour of storage capacity available in the country.
Another use for these facilities is repurposing old electric car batteries. While their performance doesn't meet car standards, they can store large quantities of energy. The first Power Center will use batteries from the discontinued e-Up model, but supply is limited. In the future, decommissioned electric car batteries will be used, recycled afterwards.
VW already has a smaller Power Center up and running in Kassel, using batteries from discontinued e-Up models since last year, participating in the power exchange. Other automakers like BMW and Audi are using re-purposed used batteries for energy supply and charging stations.
Thomas Schmall, Tech Board Member, Berlin, 2023
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