The Netherlands-based Giga Storage has irrevocable permission for the construction of the BESS project in Belgium, which will feature 20 batteries each with an inverter and five high-voltage transformers with an overall capacity of 1500 MVA, along with a 25,650 sq.mt. of planting zone based around the new market park.
The project will be called the GIGA Green Turtle, and this milestone makes sure that the financing for the project, which is all set to be Europe’s largest, can be arranged. The total capacity of the project is 600 MW/2,400 MWh.
The location of the project is in Dilsen-Stokkem, based in eastern Belgium, and happens to be adjacent to a new 380 kV high-voltage station that is run by Elia, a transmission system operator. The exact location of the site is on the high-voltage line from Van Eyck to Gramme.
The battery park is going to be built on an industrial estate that happened to be previously home to a zinc factory. There were already plans, in the past, for the realization of a battery park within this location by another energy company before Giga Storage acquired the land from the zinc factory owners.
GIGA Green Turtle is apparently going to store the average energy consumption of 330,000 families every year and then feed it back into the electricity grid, said the developer. The construction of the project is anticipated to begin in 2025 and is most likely to be completed by 2028. The developer says that the system will play a major role in Belgium as well as Europe’s energy transition.
The GIGA Storage CEO, Ruud Nijs, says that by way of developing utility-scale energy storage across strategic locations, energy prices are likely to become more stable and, at the same time, less dependent when it comes to the import of energy.
Giga Storage remarked that it aims to roll out 5 GW of BESS projects across Europe by 2030. Projects like the 300 MW/1,200 MWh BESS in the Delfzijl region in the Netherlands have already begun their development, and the company looks to announce several more projects throughout numerous European countries in the years to come.
It is well worth noting that the Dutch developer has in the past delivered a 12 MW/7.5 MWh battery in the Netherlands, which was followed by yet another 25 MW/48 MWh system a couple of years ago in 2022.
Apparently, there happens to be yet another Giga Storage project in the making, located near the Van Eyck high-voltage station in Kinrooi, which is just 15 kilometers from the GIGA Green Turtle location.