Greenchoice Integrated is granted an irrevocable licence for the realisation of an energy storage system at the Masterveldweg solar farm in Winterswijk and Bollendonk solar farm in Etten-Leur. The storage systems will help combat grid congestion.
Solar parks make an important contribution to making the Dutch energy mix more sustainable. However, electricity production is highly dependent on the weather and the time of day. On sunny days, solar farms often produce more electricity than can be consumed locally or absorbed by the regional grid. On cloudy days or in the evening, on the other hand, production falls way down. This variability creates peak loads on the grid and complicates stable energy supply.
Especially in regions with a lot of renewable generation, this leads to grid congestion: the electricity grid becomes overloaded because peak production cannot be drained off. Energy storage systems offer a solution to this by adding flexibility. The systems store surpluses and return power when the sun shines less or the demand for electricity rises. In this way, storage systems help use the power grid more efficiently and cope better with fluctuations in solar energy production.
Masterveldweg
In Winterwijk, a 20 MW energy storage system with a storage capacity of 80 MWh is being installed at the Masterveldweg solar farm. The basic design for the system was realised in autumn 2024, while the system should be fully operational by mid-2027.
The Masterveldweg solar farm has a size of about 61 hectares and generates about 71.4 GWh of green electricity on an annual basis, which is enough for the annual electricity consumption of about 28,800 households. It is the largest contiguous solar park in Gelderland. In total, the park comprises 110,460 solar panels. On an annual basis, the park helps avoid 35,485,000 kg of CO2 emissions.
Bolledonk
The second permit issued concerns energy storage system for Bollendonk solar park in Etten-Leur. This system will have a capacity of 8 MW and a storage capacity of 32 MWh. The basic design for the energy storage system was realised in May 2024. Like the storage system in Winterswijk, the system should be operational by mid-2027.
The Bolledonk solar park covers almost 10 hectares and was built on a former landfill site. A total of 21,320 solar panels are present, generating 11 GWh of solar energy on an annual basis. This accounts for the electricity consumption of about 4,400 households. On an annual basis, the solar park helps avoid 5,467,000 kg of CO2 emissions.
Co-located battery system
In both Winterswijk and Etten-Leur, this is a so-called co-located battery system, which will be realised right next to the existing solar farm. This makes it possible to use the infrastructure and grid connection already in place. The system can store surplus energy without having to be transported over the grid for this purpose. In addition, the energy storage system can also charge from the grid if a surplus of electricity is available
Stored energy can then be released to the grid when the sun is not shining or shining less. This ensures a more stable production curve, reduces the load on the electricity grid and combats grid congestion.
100 GW of energy storage capacity
Total energy storage capacity is growing rapidly. For instance, figures from LCP Delta and Energy Storage Europe show that the European Union (EU), the UK, Norway and Switzerland are expected to break the 100 GW barrier of energy storage capacity this month. This is enough to store the peaks in energy demand of both Germany and the Netherlands. By 2030, storage capacity is expected to grow to 215 GW.
