Poland’s state-owned power producer PGE is working on the largest energy storage facility in Europe with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW). The project obtained a preliminary license from Poland’s energy regulator.
“Our strategic goal is to have 800 MW of new energy storage installed capacity in Poland by 2030 to ensure the safe integration of new renewable energy sources and contribute to the stabilisation of the power system thus improving energy security,” said Wojciech Dąbrowski, CEO of PGE.
The company plans to build a 200 MW electrochemical energy storage facility located next to PGE’s Żarnowiec Power Plant, 10 kilometres from the Baltic Sea. PGE says that the project is in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal regarding the integration of renewables and cutting back on high-emission conventional power generation units.
The 200 MW electrochemical energy storage facility with a power output of more than 820 MWh is planned to be one of the biggest projects of its kind in Europe.
Moreover, the new facility will be linked to the 716 MW Żarnowiec Pumped Storage Power Station, giving rise to a 921 MW innovative hybrid installation with a capacity of over 4.6 GWh. This corresponds with the capacity of the largest conventional generation units in Poland allowing to supply energy to approximately 200,000 households.
The facility will serve the technical and commercial balancing function for weather-dependent renewable energy sources such as onshore and offshore wind farms and photovoltaic farms owned by the PGE Group.
PGE already has a 100 MW wind farm 30 kilometres from Żarnowiec and a licence to build offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, with a combined power output of 3.5 GW.
The planned hybrid installation could also increase the energy security of Poland and the Baltic States, says PGE adding that it will also increase the competitiveness of the energy markets and the synchronisation of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian power systems with the system of continental Europe through the Harmony Link project, an electricity interconnector between Lithuania and Poland.
PGE Group is applying for European funding for the project and searching for business partners to co-finance the investment.
