Vattenfall to use batteries from BMW to back up wind power
Sweden’s utility Vattenfall will use batteries supplied by BMW Group to build electricity storage at several wind power parks to provide backup when winds calm down, the company said on Tuesday. The state-owned utility said it has agreed to buy up to 1,000 lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) each from BMW’s plant in Dingolfing. The same type of batteries are used by the car manufacturer in the BMW i3 electric car. The state-owned company divested its polluting lignite power plants and mines in eastern Germany last year, and said it wanted to focus its investments on renewable power.
Vattenfall plans to build the first 3.2 MW battery storage facility at its 122 MW Princess Alexia wind farm near Amsterdam. A bigger 22 MW capacity storage facility is planned at the 230 MW Pen y Cymoedd wind farm in South Wales. The Swedish company won a contract in August from Britain’s National Grid to supply super fast balancing services from the Pen y Cymoedd wind farm. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, additional reporting by Susanna Twidale in London, editing by Louise Heavens)