Aquila, Nippon Koei to jointly sponsor 25-MW/100-MWh BESS project in Belgium

German asset manager Aquila Capital Investmentgesellschaft mbH and Japanese engineering company Nippon Koei Co Ltd (TYO:1954) have jointly acquired a 25-MW/100-MWh battery storage project in Ruien, Belgium, and reached financial close for the scheme, they said on Monday.

Nippon Koei executed the transaction via its 100% owned subsidiary Nippon Koei Energy Europe BV. Financial details were not disclosed.

The partners said they had reached an agreement to jointly finance the procurement, final development and operation of the Ruien battery energy storage system (BESS). The facility will be located on a site of a former 800-MW coal-fired power plant and connected to the Belgian high-voltage grid.

According to the promoters, the Ruien system will be one of the first four-hour long duration BESS units in the EU.

The project was developed by Nippon Koei with Belgian green energy outfit Yuso BV serving as co-developer. Yuso, which “instigated” the project in 2018, has been appointed optimiser for the BESS for the next ten years, the press release reads.

The companies aim to complete the project in the fourth quarter of 2022.

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