From pv magazine ESS news place
French electricity company Engie has started construction of one of Europe’s largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) at the gas power plant site in Vilvoorde, north of Brussels.
Once completed, the 200 MW/800 MWh Vilvoode BESS project will cover a site of 3.5 hectares and contain 320 battery modules measuring 25 m x 4 m x 3 m. The battery park has a 15-year contract with Elia, the national grid operator.
“[The site] has sufficient space and excellent connectivity to the electricity grid,” says Quentin Renoy, BESS Business Developer at Engie Belgium.
This milestone follows the project’s construction permit in July 2023 and its selection for capacity compensation in October 2023. After last year’s auction The Belgian authorities said this that Engie’s 796 MW gas power plant in Vilvoorde would initially serve as a backup power plant for three years and could then be extended given “the current limitations of green energy capacity.”
Engie described this as “a double success within the CRM framework”, which ensures the future of its site in Belgium.
The BESS project in Vilvoorde will start in two phases, with the commissioning of 100 MW of batteries in September 2025, and a further 100 MW in January 2026.
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