Belgium switches on 'the continent's largest battery'

Engie and Sungrow have commissioned and brought online the first phase of a battery storage project with a current capacity of 400 MWh. Once fully operational, the project is expected to be, according to the company, "the largest battery on the continent". It is located in Vilvoorde, Belgium, and is expected to reach full capacity by the end of 2025.

The project uses 320 of Sungrow's "PowerTitan" batteries. According to James Li, who spoke to PV Magazine, the new batteries offer 7% higher energy density and are four decibels quieter. Once completed, the project is expected to have a power output of 200 MW and a total storage capacity of 800 MWh.

Engie is a French, partly state-owned multinational company active in a wide range of energy projects—from gas and oil to distribution and renewables. The project in Vilvoorde is a collaboration with Chinese company Sungrow, which operates in the solar, battery storage and inverter sectors.

One interesting aspect of the project is that it was originally planned as a gas-fired power plant, but permitting problems led to its conversion into a battery project. Engie has other battery projects too. In Belgium, for example, it is also working on a 100 MW project with a capacity of 400 MWh near the village of Kallo.

Although Sungrow touted it as the largest project in continental Europe, technically that is not currently the case; it will only become so once fully operational. A Bulgarian project connected in May this year has a power output of 124 MW and a capacity of 496 MWh.

Belgium's energy mix

Belgium plans to shut down some of its nuclear power plants this year. A complete phase-out was planned, but the government has gradually backed away from this policy and is even planning new nuclear units. Some plants must still be shut down because of the age of their reactors—as happened recently with Unit 1 of the Tihange power plant, the fourth unit the Belgians have shut down.

Belgium is therefore considering how to replace the capacity lost as nuclear reactors are shut down, and battery projects are part of the government's solution. Through capacity mechanism auctions, Belgium has contracted more than 1 GW of battery storage capacity to come online by 2029.