Press release November 11, 2024
Deutsche Bahn secures battery storage from Iqony
Innovative Iqony battery storage system with a capacity of 200 megawatt hours in Duisburg-Walsum will make Deutsche Bahn’s green electricity portfolio more flexible in future • Storage system goes into operation in 2026 • Annual use of the battery storage system is sufficient for three million InterCity Express kilometers • The large-scale battery storage system is being built by Fluence, a company founded in 2018 as a joint venture between Siemens and AES.
Duisburg/Frankfurt a.M./Essen. From 2026 onwards, the “Steady Green Energy” battery storage system will make Deutsche Bahn’s power supply even more flexible and greener. To this end, Group subsidiary DB Energie and energy company Iqony have concluded a Power Storage Agreement (PSA).
The two companies have agreed on a contract under which DB Energie will use 35 megawatts (MW) of the battery storage facility, which has a total capacity of around 50 MW, for five years. The facility will be built at the Steag Iqony Group’s Duisburg-Walsum power plant site and is expected to go into operation in May 2026. In future, it will help to facilitate the further integration of renewables such as wind and solar energy, thereby tackling one of the biggest challenges of the energy transition.
“It is a four-hour storage system that can store a total of around 200 megawatt hours (MWh) of green electricity or provide it as required,” explains Christian Karalis, Co-Head of Business Development and responsible for the battery storage project at Iqony. With this system, Iqony is a pioneer in Germany and also one of the first movers in Europe. “For the first time, Iqony is offering its partners customized Power Storage Agreements (PSAs) with the opportunity to contract storage capacity for their portfolio and not having to own the assets themselves. We are also responding to the emerging need for longer storage durations, which are aimed in particular at optimizing green portfolios. Typically, storage facilities in the German market currently only have a capacity of two hours,” says Christian Karalis. Iqony also has battery storage projects in preparation for the future at other Steag Iqony Group power plant sites.
Flexibilization of renewable energy
“Deutsche Bahn will be climate-neutral by 2040. Increasing the share of renewable energy in traction power is a key lever here. This currently stands at 68 percent. But trains also need to run when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Iqony’s battery storage system can store surplus electricity from renewables and feed it into the grid when needed. With our share of 140 MWh, we can temporarily store electricity for around three million ICE kilometers per year. This flexible storage system will help DB to make its power supply even more sustainable and is another important step on the way to a climate-neutral German rail network, thereby contributing to the implementation of the energy transition throughout Germany,” says Florian Reuter, CEO of DB Energie.
However, the project is not only technically innovative, but the agreement concluded between the partners is also forward-looking in its entirety. Previously, companies had to install and operate battery storage systems themselves and also bear the financial risks. Thanks to the PSA as a new contractual construct, the expertise and needs of the companies involved can be used to mutual advantage. The market for battery storage is currently in the start-up phase and will play an important role in DB’s energy supply in the coming years. “As with our previous green electricity supply contracts (Power Purchase Agreements), I am delighted that DB Energie is now also helping to drive forward the urgently needed expansion of battery storage in Germany with its commitment,” says Florian Reuter.
On the way to the energy infrastructure of the future with large-scale battery storage systems from Fluence
“As the leading provider of large-scale battery storage systems in Germany, we are very pleased to be working with Iqony and look forward to DB Energie’s pioneering use of the storage system,” says Markus Meyer, Managing Director of Fluence Energy GmbH.
“With our location and technology center in Erlangen, investing in Germany is particularly important to us. Since our foundation, we have continuously invested in technological development on site. We are proud that our technology is being used by such important companies as DB Energie to drive forward the decarbonization of the transport sector. It is a matter close to our hearts to support companies like DB Energie in achieving their climate targets in Germany.”
Germany is on the way to a climate-neutral future and large-scale battery storage systems play an important role in this. The project by DB Energie and Iqony shows the role that large-scale battery storage systems can play in a cost-efficient and secure energy transition in Germany. With more than 11.1 gigawatts (GW) of storage projects worldwide and 700 megawatts (MW) in Germany, Fluence is aiming to revolutionize the energy supply. The company helps its customers to build a more resilient and sustainable electricity infrastructure.
Iqony’s growth strategy
For Iqony, the planned battery storage project in Duisburg-Walsum is an important building block in the company’s ongoing transformation and the associated growth strategy: “In addition to the planned construction of new hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, our focus in the further development of our existing power plant sites is also on energy storage,” says Dr. Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the Management Board and Labor Director of Steag and Iqony. The expansion of the existing district heating networks in the Ruhr and Saar regions and the company’s own generation portfolio in the field of renewables are further areas of focus.
Long track record in large-scale battery systems
In this project, Iqony benefits from the fact that the company has relevant technical and energy industry expertise in the field of large-scale battery storage. Iqony has already been operating distributed 90 MW large-scale battery capacity for almost a decade, mainly in the market for control and balancing energy. “With this project, we were also at the forefront of developments in battery storage technology and its successful marketing in Germany. We want to build on this success with the new project, which goes by the name of Steady Green Energy,” says Dr. Ralf Schiele, member of the Steag Management Board and CEO and COO of Iqony.
The storage capacity available beyond the tranche used by DB Energie will be marketed by Iqony itself through its in-house trading division.
