Consume electricity and save money The energy transition not only brings challenges, but also enormous opportunities. The All Electric Society Factory in Blomberg, Germany, demonstrates how battery storage systems and DC grids are ushering in a new era together. A project with a lighthouse effect.

One challenge that electricity producers and grid operators have had to face has led to a veritable gold rush in the field of energy storage. Companies are investing heavily in battery storage systems in order to buffer electricity and feed it into the grid in a targeted manner – a lucrative business area. The treasure hunters in the gold rush are already queuing up at the German Federal Network Agency, the Bundesnetzagentur. They want to stake their claims and are vying for grid connections.

However, this turbulent situation is also a great opportunity. “We can export business models abroad because this situation affected us earlier than others”, Roman Alberti is convinced. His company, Voltfang GmbH, specializes in sustainable battery storage systems made from used e-vehicle batteries. “We will need much more energy storage to ensure grid stability in Europe”, he adds. Germany can play a pioneering role in the orchestration of stable grids similar to the role Norway played in the field of e-mobility.

Although battery storage systems absorb direct current, they have so far almost exclusively been integrated into conventional AC power grids. Direct integration into direct current grids is technologically complex and has barely been tested to date. “Together with Voltfang, we have managed to implement a battery storage system coupled via a DC power grid that absorbs surplus energy from photovoltaics”, reports Lüke. This energy then is then fed back into the production process. With this approach the cooperation partners were able to increase the overall stability of the system. “The biggest challenge in integrating the energy storage system was the control technology. This technology enables the battery storage system to be used optimally in the DC power grid and adapted to all usage scenarios”, reports Michael Freudel, Development Engineer at Voltfang.

Another aspect of sustainability is the use of second-life batteries from electric vehicles. “Only a few of the raw materials that we need for battery production are produced here in Europe”, explains Alberti. “This makes it all the more important that we make efficient use of the resources that are already available in the country”.

The battery modules come from renowned car manufacturers, either as second-life batteries or from production surpluses. Because standards in the automotive industry are very high, these batteries have an unusually long service life. “We also carry out intensive monitoring: every 10 seconds we check how the individual battery cells are behaving. This ensures a service life of 15 years and longer”.