Decommissioned Audi EV Batteries Used In 4.5MWh Stationary Energy Storage System In Germany
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
These are the first two paragraphs of the article.
Used lithium-ion batteries taken from carmaker Audi’s electric vehicles (EVs) have been repurposed into a ‘second-life’ stationary energy storage system by energy company RWE at a project in Herdecke, Germany.
RWE has deployed the system, which has a capacity of around 4.5MWh, at the site of its pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) plant at Hengsteysee reservoir in the North-Rhine Westphalia region of north-west Germany.
The Hengsteysee looks to be a well-designed reservoir, as it provides four functions.
- Functions as the lower reservoir of the Koepchenwerk pumped-storage plant
- Performs biological purification of water from the Lenne
- Deposit of sediment from the Lenne
- Venue for water sports and tourism
This Google Map shows the Hengsteysee.
More details of the Koepchenwerk pumped-storage plant is given on this page on Power Technology.
- It has a generating capacity of 153 MW.
- The gross head is 145.5 metres.
- The storage capacity is around 0.6 GWh.
It is not the largest of pumped-storage plants, but Germany seems to have a lot of smaller ones like this and in total they have more than we do.
The Anonymous Widower 
It is not the first time batteries have been installed at Koepchenwerk, so I suppose that the unique feature is the reuse of batteries from automobiles.
It seems to be a growing practice to co-locate alternative forms of renewable power with hydroelectric schemes.
As your blog says the state-of-the-art 153MW pump turbine station had been commissioned in 1989, replacing an old plant that was decommissioned in 1994, having been in operation continually since 1930, except for May 1943 when it was put out of action by a rather famous incident that punctured the Möhne dam.
The current setup has been working continually from 1989 except for a refurbishment of the control system, and monitoring equipment in 2007.
Comment by fammorris | January 5, 2022 |
I think it is a fairly sensible idea to put different power systems with different responses together.
CAF mix lithium-ion and supercapacitors on some of their trams and trains.
Comment by AnonW | January 5, 2022 |