E.on, SMA, partners start construction of 5-MW modular battery

Construction of a 5-MW battery storage system combining different technologies has officially started on the premises of RWTH Aachen University, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Battery maker Exide Technologies GmbH and solar inverter maker SMA Solar Technology AG (ETR:S92) are supplying the technical components for the Modular Multimegawatt, Multitechnology Medium-Voltage Battery Storage System (M5BAT) project. The other project participants are German utility E.on (ETR:EOA), E.on Energy Research Center and the Institute of Power Systems and Power Economics at the university.

The M5BAT project is to be completed in the middle of 2016, E.on said in a statement on Wednesday. It noted that such large battery storage systems, which facilitate the growth of renewable energy use, offer much more flexibility which makes them an especially interesting option for energy storage.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has provided a grant of EUR 6.7 million (USD 7.5m) for M5BAT as part of its “Energy Storage Funding Initiative”.

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