Colossal battery park in Belgium to store energy to power 385,000 households 

30 Sep 2024

Green Turtle battery park, among the largest in continental Europe, will feed 700 MW of renewable energy back to the grid. Tractebel is Owner’s Engineer on this landmark project. 

Green Turtle, situated on the Rotem industrial site in Belgium’s northwestern Limburg province, was originally planned as a 600 MW battery storage park for renewable energy. For technical optimization, client GIGA Storage Belgium opted to scale up to a capacity of 700MW. This corresponds to the average energy consumption of 385,000 households stored by the batteries each year and fed back into the electrical grid. The design phase of the battery farm began in September 2024, with the start of construction anticipated in summer 2025. 

Tractebel is Owner’s Engineer on this major sustainability project 

GIGA Storage Belgium recently signed an agreement with Tractebel as Owners Engineer, and the Stadsbader-Sweco joint venture as the construction team. Stadsbader Group will oversee the structural part of the works and Sweco Belgium will be responsible for the engineering of the future battery park.  

As Owner’s Engineer, Tractebel’s multi-disciplinary team of experts will provide technical support to GIGA Storage Belgium. Our experts bring their specific know-how of BESS projects, such as battery, grid connection, fire protection, civil works and electrical throughout the Green Turtle project development, starting with the design phase, first crucial step of the implementation.  

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) key to the energy transition 

Battery farms are crucial missing links to facilitate the transition to renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels. When the supply of renewable energy exceeds the demand for power, battery systems like Green Turtle allow excess energy to be stored, then fed back into the grid when the demand for energy soars. This allows for more efficient use of renewable energy and avoids having to shut down wind turbines or large-scale solar panel farms to spare the grid. Battery storage systems therefore increase stability of the power grid and create a better balance between supply and demand of energy, ultimately resulting in a reduced power prices. 

“We are proud to be a trusted partner of GIGA Storage Belgium in their flagship project for a large-scale battery farm in Belgium. This partnership is fully aligned with our BESS expertise and our goal of achieving a carbon neutral future. We look forward, together with our partners, to bringing this project to life and taking the energy transition in Belgium to the next level.”

Pierre-Yves Courrie – Head of Transmission & Distribution Projects

 

 

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