M5BAT starts up

9 December 2016



The M5BAT modular 5 MW battery storage system has been put into operation in Aachen, Germany. Prof Dirk Uwe Sauer of the Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) at RWTH Aachen University, director of the project and M5BAT operations, said regarding the significance of the project for energy research: “From day one, we have intensely and individually monitored more than 25 000 battery cells in six strings of different lithium–ion battery technologies and four strings of different lead batteries. This will allow us to gather valuable information on aging, reliability, and service life. At the same time, we want to use intelligent battery management to show how overall operations can be optimised with a hybrid system using different technologies.”


The M5BAT modular 5 MW battery storage system has been put into operation in Aachen, Germany. Prof Dirk Uwe Sauer of the Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) at RWTH Aachen University, director of the project and M5BAT operations, said regarding the significance of the project for energy research: “From day one, we have intensely and individually monitored more than 25 000 battery cells in six strings of different lithium–ion battery technologies and four strings of different lead batteries. This will allow us to gather valuable information on aging, reliability, and service life. At the same time, we want to use intelligent battery management to show how overall operations can be optimised with a hybrid system using different technologies.” 

The energy storage system is located next to a transformer and RWTH Aachen University research centres. The fully- automated system will be monitored and operated via a remote control system by Uniper for the purposes of energy trading, and the battery storage system will be used in various markets for research purposes, for example for provision of primary control power.

A distinguishing feature of M5BAT (Modular Multi-Megawatt Multi-Technology Medium-Voltage Battery Storage System) is the planned use of five different battery technologies.

Uniper is responsible for modifying the building that houses the facility and fitting of equipment, as well as for trading with the battery storage system on the energy market. Exide Technologies is responsible for the lead–acid battery strings, while SMA will install its newly developed special- purpose inverters. In addition, various types of lithium–ion batteries will be employed.

Dr Rainer Bußar, director of industrial batteries / R&D Europe at Exide Technologies, commented on the potential of lead batteries in large-scale storage networks: “In stationary applications, where size and weight matter less than they do in mobile applications, lead batteries represent an interesting technological alternative to systems employing finite lithium resources. Two of the five M5BAT lead battery strings will undergo direct technology comparison tests in the field.”

M5BAT received a total of EUR 6.7 million from the “Energy Storage Funding Initiative” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.



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