R.Power and Axpo agree on 1.2 GWh BESS optimization contract in Poland

Independent power producer (IPP) R.Power and Axpo have signed a multi-year energy storage optimization contract, with the new agreement tying up a 300 MW/1,200 MWh BESS facility to be built in Dzięgielewo, east-central Poland.

R.Power is building the new battery energy storage system, and the local unit of Swiss utility Axpo will provide optimization services. The pair have a longstanding history together with multiple previous agreements signed, and between Axpo and R.Power, Axpo’s total contracted storage capacity with R.Power will reach 450 MW/1,500 MWh.

The new agreement for the Dzięgielewo project begins at the start of commercial operations and covers the full scope of optimisation services until the end of 2038. The deail is that the deal is based on a profit-sharing mechanism between Axpo and R.Power, combined with a minimum revenue guarantee or floor.

R.Power has a 1.7 GW/6.3 GWh Polish energy storage pipeline.

What they said:

Axpo Polska managing director Mateusz Marczewski: “Our partnership with R.Power on the Dzięgielewo project is another step towards building Axpo’s leading position in the large-scale energy storage segment in Poland. Our goal remains to maximise the value of our partners’ assets throughout their entire life cycle – from participation in power and ancillary services markets to a commercialisation model tailored to bankability requirements.”

Axpo Polska head of origination Krzysztof Włodyga: “The trust we have built with R.Power through PPA projects and our recent agreement for Jedwabno enabled us, in a short time, to define a cooperation framework for an asset as large as the Dzięgielewo storage project. A key challenge was scaling solutions to 300 MW and refining them in the context of rapidly evolving operational and regulatory standards.”

R.Power chief commercial officer Rafał Hajduk: “We are expanding our energy storage base to structurally balance our growing PV portfolio and deliver stable, clean energy in Europe. Long-term commercialisation agreements such as this are not only fundamental to delivery of our own pipeline but also lay the groundwork for growth of utility-scale BESS in highly promising markets such as Poland.”