French energy group ENGIE announced on Wednesday, June 24, that its first hybrid energy project integrating wind energy production with battery energy storage was being developed in Băleni, Galați County, south-eastern Romania.

The storage system, installed within the operational 50 MW wind farm in Băleni, will have a final power capacity of 5 MW and a capacity of 10 MWh, with the facility scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the year, ENGIE Romania stated in a LinkedIn post.

“It will be commissioned by the end of the year and will contribute to the more efficient integration of renewable energy into the grid and to increasing the flexibility of the energy system,” according to the cited source.

Last autumn, the group announced that it would build two battery electricity storage systems in Galați and Sibiu counties, to modernize the national energy system and reach a globally installed capacity of 95 GW in renewable energy and storage by 2030.

The battery system in Galați was initially expected to have a power capacity of 5 MW and a storage capacity of 10 MWh, allowing energy to be delivered to the grid for two hours at maximum capacity, using LFP (lithium iron phosphate) technology. The configuration was designed to allow the delivery duration to be extended from two to four hours, depending on future grid requirements.

The system is designed to absorb excess energy when production exceeds the grid’s capacity and to provide, primarily, system services and balancing services for the wind power plant.

ENGIE is also developing another battery project in Șelimbăr, Sibiu County. The project will also have an installed power capacity of 80 MW and a storage capacity of 160 MWh. The system will be built on a plot of approximately 2 hectares and will use LFP technology. The company recently acquired the rights to the project, which has all the necessary permits to start construction works. 

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: ENGIE Romania on LinkedIn)