RWE’s Dutch battery to help set standards for inertia-capable BESS

A 7.5 MW/11 MWh BESS which has begun operating in the Netherlands will help transmission system operator Tennet develop standards for future sites which feature “grid-forming” inverters.

The inverters used in the BESS developed by German utility RWE offer inertia services required by the grid to keep power grid stable because they can react to shortfalls or excesses of electricity supply within milliseconds.

RWE on Monday announced the start of operations at its Moerdijk BESS by describing the facility as “the first of its kind in operation in the central European grid.”

The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) BESS has been installed at RWE’s 418 MW Moerdijk natural gas-fired power station as part of the OranjeWind offshore wind project being developed by RWE and TotalEnergies.

The German utility said commercial operation of the site would go hand in hand with a two-year pilot phase which would help RWE and Tennet develop technical requirements and grid compliance procedures for future projects which include grid-forming inverters.

Nikolaus Valerius, chief executive of RWE Generation SE, said, “Our newest plant, in Moerdijk, shows that ultra-fast battery energy storage systems can deliver the grid-serving inertia once solely provided by conventional power plants. With the phase-out of fossil fuel-fired large power plants, more and more such systems are needed to stabilize the grid.”