TotalEnergies launches in Belgium its largest battery energy storage project in Europe

TotalEnergies has launched at its Antwerp refinery (Belgium), a battery farm project for energy storage with a power rating of 25 MW and capacity of 75 MWh, equivalent to the daily consumption of close to 10,000 households.

After commissioning four battery parks in France offering total energy storage capacity of 130 MWh, this project will be the Company’s largest battery installation in Europe. The batteries, 40 Intensium Max High Energy lithium-ion containers, will be supplied by Saft, the battery subsidiary of TotalEnergies, confirming its position as European leader in industrial-scale stationary storage with this project.

The installation, which will be operational by the end of 2024, will help meet the needs of the European and Belgian high-voltage transmission network 24/7 by:

• Smoothing power fluctuations in the national grid on a daily basis, particularly during peak winter periods.
• Guaranteeing grid security by participating actively in the national grid’s reserve services.
• Allowing more renewable electricity to be integrated into the grid.

Essential for the development of renewable energies

This project by TotalEnergies will compensate for the intermittency introduced by renewable energies and thus enable their development. Batteries are an effective response to the growing need for grid balancing. They can be deployed quickly, have a limited footprint and high reactivity. As a result, they can help meet the new challenges facing power grids today.

This project, located on the Antwerp refinery site, will benefit from the available land and the site’s grid connection. It is a new step in TotalEnergies’ development of battery energy storage systems (BESS) which strengthens the Company’s presence across the entire electricity value chain in Belgium (production, storage, supply).

“This first storage project in Belgium – our largest in Europe – will help ensure the stability of the Belgian and European grids to allow for greater development of renewable energies. It fits in perfectly with the multi-energy strategy of TotalEnergies. Backed by Saft’s battery energy storage system expertise, TotalEnergies intends to deploy storage solutions – notably in countries where we are actively developing renewable energies. With its energy storage solutions, TotalEnergies supports the growth of renewable energy production in the European energy mix,” said Olivier Jouny, Senior Vice President Integrated Power at TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies and electricity in Belgium

In Belgium, TotalEnergies is a major player in the entire electricity value chain. As an electricity supplier, the company has a portfolio of 450,000 BtC sites and around 100,000 BtB sites. To supply them with energy, TotalEnergies relies in particular on the Marchienne-au-Pont CCGT power plant (430 MW), the Plate-Taille hydroelectric dam (140 MW), and a wind farm located in the Belgian waters of the North Sea (300 MW). TotalEnergies is also developing solar and onshore wind projects, with a portfolio of 300 MW. In electric mobility, TotalEnergies has 5,100 recharging points in operation (35% on the road, 20% at home and 45% in offices) and 7,000 recharging points under development. TotalEnergies operates charging points in major Belgian cities such as Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and Flanders.

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