The DONG Energy grid company Radius has signed an agreement with ABB concerning a giant battery for Nordhavn, one of Copenhagen’s newest residential districts.
(Center for Electric Power and Energy at DTU Electrical Engineering is partner in EnergyLab Nordhavn. Here is the latest news from the project)
For the first time in Danish history, giant batteries are to be integrated into the power grid. The trailblazing innovation will be introduced in Nordhavn, the biggest urban development project ever undertaken in Denmark. Radius has recently signed a contract with ABB for the delivery of a Li-ion battery that will be installed in the Lüders parking facility in Nordhavn January 2017. Fully charged, this battery has the capacity to supply around 60 households with electricity for one day.
New growth area
Nordhavn is a new growth area in Copenhagen. On completion, the area will house 40,000 people and provide 40,000 jobs.As such, it will have a population larger than the Danish island of Bornholm.
One of the ambitions behind the project is to create a district in Copenhagen that is sustainable in terms of energy. For example, many of the buildings will generate electricity using solar cells or other forms of renewable energy. Innovation is also evident in the infrastructure and the interaction between electricity, district heating/cooling, and water/wastewater.
The parking house where the giant battery will be stored. Photo: By & Havn/Peter Sørensen
New demands on the power grid
The ambitious green goals and the alternative approach to energy consumption make special demands on the power grid. Using batteries to store energy is likely to play a much larger role than it does today. Radius is preparing for this new step by working with partners in the ‘EnergyLab Nordhavn’ project to test how large batteries can be integrated into the power grid. Energy can be drawn from the battery whenever necessary to reduce the load on the grid. In this way, the grid can be run much more cost-efficiently.
Anders Vikkelsø, Vice President of Radius, says: “Over the coming years, energy production will fluctuate more radically than we're used to, and consumption patterns will change significantly on account of the green transformation. As a grid company, we have an extraordinary opportunity to prepare for the future. By bringing the battery online in the EnergyLab Nordhavn,project, we can learn a great deal about how to design the power grid to meet the needs of the world we are sure to encounter just a few years from now. And we can test how new technological solutions and market mechanisms interact with the grid. We're convinced that batteries will be one of the technological solutions we will need to pay more attention to in the immediate future.”
Jonas M. Kehr, Sales Manager at ABB A/S, says:
“At ABB, we're delighted to have the opportunity to enter into an agreement with Radius concerning this smart city Li-ion battery project. This project neatly aligns with ABB’s strategy of supplying eco-friendly and innovative solutions to the energy sector. The Li-ion battery solution is unique in terms of its central location in an urban environment and its technological design as an integral component in a standard 10kV substation in an urban zone. This marks the start of much more widespread use of battery solutions in the grid. We're convinced at ABB that in future, we'll see many more batteries linked to the grid in connection with solutions involving solar cells, wind turbines, electric cars and buses.”
About EnergyLab Nordhavn
The project “EnergyLab Nordhavn – new urban energy infrastructures” will develop and demonstrate future energy solutions. The project utilizes Copenhagen’s Nordhavn as a full-scale smart city energy lab and demonstrates how electricity and heating, energy-efficient buildings and electric transport can be integrated into an intelligent, flexible and optimized energy system. The project participants are: DTU, City of Copenhagen, CPH City & Port Development, HOFOR, DONG Energy, ABB, Balslev, Danfoss, CleanCharge, METRO THERM, Glen Dimplex and the PowerLab facilities. The project is supported by EUPD (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme) and runs from 2015-2019.