5 questions about... battery storage systems

1. What specifically does Vattenfall offer its business partners in the area of large-scale battery storage?

Vattenfall itself is active in the development and marketing of battery storage systems and also offers marketing solutions for customers' own systems. These are always tailored to the specific needs and conditions on site. Our offerings include both co-located battery storage systems that share grid connections with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind farms, as well as stand-alone battery storage systems. The aim is to provide and market flexible and reliable energy storage solutions that improve grid stability and optimize energy use. We rely on a marketing model in which electricity is stored during low-price phases and released again during periods of high demand. As a marketing partner, it is up to us to choose the right strategy for the flexibility we are given. In return, we guarantee the storage operator a fixed market premium for a fixed term, thus ensuring long-term planning reliability and secure financing for their project. A special feature is that we assume the entire marketing risk and thus secure revenues for investors.

2. For which customer groups does Vattenfall take on the marketing and for which type of investors can the model be particularly attractive?

We are generally open to cooperation with a wide range of market participants: Whether banks or institutional, municipal or private investors - with Vattenfall as a contractual partner, our customers are assured of stable financing and reliable and professional support for their project. After all, we not only have many years of expertise in direct marketing, but can also look back on decades of experience in the operation and marketing of pumped storage power plants.

3. Are there specific issues that customers should be aware of when investing in battery storage systems?

Absolutely. When investing in battery storage systems, business partners should pay attention to several key factors:

- Firstly, the specifications and optimization potential of the storage system are crucial. For example, whether it is a two-hour or four-hour system is important. It is important to ensure that the system is technically sound and can fulfill the intended use cases.

- Secondly, the regulatory environment and market signals play a significant role in the viability and feasibility of battery storage projects.

- And thirdly, it is essential to secure reliable grid connections and understand the financial implications, such as the cost of grid connection and potential revenue streams.

Vattenfall assumes the risks on the revenue side, but the investment costs and fundamental questions regarding construction, grid connection and technical design remain in the operator's sphere of risk. Regulations on storage availability, number of full cycles, degradation curves and system efficiency are key components of our calculation and part of our marketing contracts. The technical properties are therefore decisive for the value of a storage system.

4. What size of battery storage systems will Vattenfall market?

We plan to bring a total of up to 1.5 gigawatts of battery storage capacity onto the market over the next few years - and in future we will increasingly do this by managing the systems of other market participants. In terms of the scale of individual projects, we are concentrating on projects in the mid double-digit MW range and above.

5. How does Vattenfall see the battery storage market developing in the coming years?

We expect significant growth in the battery storage market, driven by the increasing share of renewable energies in the grid and the need for flexibility.

We are currently seeing a large focus on two-hour storage systems. In the medium term, the trend may be towards deeper - longer-term - storage systems. These play an important role in making our energy system more flexible, but are much more difficult to finance as they are used less frequently.

In principle, it remains interesting to see what the future market design will look like - particularly in the case of a possible capacity mechanism - and what market and price signals will be sent out. In an efficiently designed market, large-scale battery storage systems will hopefully be able to play an important role in our energy system of the future.

Do you have questions about battery storage marketing? Feel free to contact us!

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