Engie and NHOA Energy begin construction on 320 MWh battery in Belgium

Utility-scale energy storage systems provider NHOA Energy, in partnership with Engie, has begun construction of an 80 MW / 320 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Engie’s Drogenbos power station, less than 10km from Brussels, Belgium. 

A groundbreaking ceremony was held with attendees including Flanders Energy Minister Hans Bonte and senior executives from both Engie and NHOA Energy, marking the official start of Engie’s third-largest BESS project in the country. The battery was awarded under Belgium’s fifth Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM) auction, under a 15-year agreement that begins in November 2027. Engie has contracted NHOA Energy to supply, commission and provide long-term service for the project.

The Drogenbos system will include 88 battery containers with four-hour discharging capability, using NHOA Energy’s NHEXUS and PROPHET control platforms. Once operational, the system is expected to hold enough energy to power more than 38,000 homes for a day. 

Engie Belgium CEO, Vincent Verbeke, added, “Engie has set itself the target of operating 500 MW of battery storage capacity in Belgium by 2030. With projects such as those in Drogenbos and Kallo, we are well on track to achieve that goal.”

Engie’s 100 MW / 400 MWh Kallo BESS secured a capacity contract from Elia in Belgium’s fourth CRM auction.

Giuseppe Artizzu, CEO of NHOA Energy, said the company was proud to team up with Engie once again following the partnership on the Kallo BESS.

“We are proud to once again join forces with ENGIE, reinforcing our shared commitment to advancing battery energy storage across Europe. The start of construction at Drogenbos marks a further addition to the resilience of the European interconnected system, in a context where accelerating the energy transition is a lever of energy security for the continent,” Artizzu said. Earlier in the month, Engie Chile inaugurated its first BESS directly connected to a wind farm – the 57 MW / 285 MWh Kallpa project.

NHOA Energy was, until 2021, a subsidiary of Engie under the name Engie EPS. It was sold to the Taiwan Cement Corporation, which de-listed the company from the Euronext Paris in 2024.