BRUCHSAL (dpa-AFX) – Energy supplier EnBW intends to install battery storage in newly planned solar parks as a matter of principle in the future. According to the Karlsruhe-based group, this will make it the first energy company in Germany to rely on such storage systems in solar parks as standard. “We want to invest tens of millions of euros in this over the next one to two years,” Thorsten Jorß, head of photovoltaic project development, said on Friday.
With battery storage, green electricity can be fed into the grid more flexibly and independently of weather-related fluctuations: Namely, not only when particularly much electricity is generated due to correspondingly good wind or sun conditions. In this way, the electricity can be “temporarily stored” and fed into the grid according to need and demand. EnBW has already installed battery storage at solar park sites in Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The utility has been building and operating solar farms in Germany since 2008.
According to the information, the company is examining whether existing solar parks can be retrofitted. To this end, the Karlsruhe-based company initially wants to concentrate on its own solar parks, i.e. without associated companies. In Germany, these are 35 EnBW solar parks, 20 of which are located in Baden-Württemberg alone, Jorß said. A prerequisite for retrofitting, he said, is a separate building permit. In addition, the land for it must be available, he said. Similar considerations are also being made for equipping wind farms./avg/DP/zb