Engie adds 300 MW of virtual battery flexibility in Germany

Engie and Netherlands-based energy storage company Return have signed an agreement for 300 MW of additional battery flexibility in Germany. Structured as a virtual flexibility purchase agreement (vFPA), the deal takes Engie’s total contracted flexibility capacity with Return in Germany to 400 MW.

The partnership uses a model that is still relatively new in the German market. Rather than being linked to a single storage facility, the flexibility is pooled across multiple battery energy storage systems operated by Return in Germany.

The capacity is provided through Return’s virtual flexibility portfolio (VFP), which combines its different storage assets into a single virtual portfolio. Engie can access the flexibility from all the assets through a single interface.

The arrangement also allows new capacity to be added as Return’s portfolio grows. The new agreement follows the companies’ first 100 MW transaction in Germany and a subsequent 55 MW agreement in Spain.

Engie said the partnership demonstrates how virtual flexibility agreements can support the development of battery storage and its goal of providing customers with decarbonized energy around the clock.

From pv magazine France