Giga Storage starts building 1.2 GWh Netherlands battery

French-owned battery developer Giga Storage has begun construction of its 300 MW/1.2 GWh Giga Leopard project in Delfzijl, Groningen, after securing €300 million ($342 million) of project finance from eight unnamed European lenders.

The project, being built on the former Aldel aluminum smelting facility in the north Netherlands, is near to one of the country’s main offshore wind power hubs and can connect to Tennet’s high-voltage grid via a substation on the site.

Announcing the closing of project finance, Giga Storage said the battery is due online in the second half of 2027.

Giga Storage Chief Executive Kevin Dijkers said, “We are committed to successfully bringing to service Leopard on time, for 2027, building on our track record and innovative, scalable approach to delivering large-scale battery [energy] storage projects. The construction of this project … marks a new chapter that builds on the area’s rich industrial heritage while paving the way for a sustainable future.”

The developer, majority owned by French private investor InfraVia, signed an innovative grid connection arrangement with electricity transmission system operator Tennet which will permit the battery to charge from, and discharge into the grid at specified times which run to at least 85% of the hours of the contract.

The “time-dependent transmission right (TDTR)” deal signed by Giga Storage has since enabled the grid operator to estimate it could free up 9.1 GW of extra grid connection capacity by offering TDTRs to other electricity users.

InfraVia Investment Director Vincent Menager said the French infrastructure backer is supporting Giga Storage with a more than 2 GW pipeline of utility-scale batteries in Europe, including the planned 700 MW/2.8 GWh Giga Green Turtle project in Dilsen-Stokkem, Belgium, which is near the borders with the Netherlands and Germany.