EV-based BESS to balance Finnish and Norse demand
As part of the four-year circular economy project TREASoURcE, funded by Horizon Europe, a stationary Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) built with used Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries will be commissioned at two demo sites in Norway and Finland later this year.
The EV-based BESS demonstrations aim to increase knowledge of the batteries’ second life and functionality and how stationary batteries can be used to balance electricity demand. The intended result is to accelerate the market uptake of the technology.
Aiming to accelerate market uptake of demand-balancing BESS systems, the batteries will be commissioned at demo sites Rudskogen Motorsports Centre in Viken, Norway, and the municipally-owned Lempäälä House in Lempäälä, Finland.
The system stores excess energy from solar panels, which in turn is used to cut power peaks for site facilities.
The BESS can thus be used to shift energy consumption, reduce energy costs and provide stabilisation for the power grid. The use of second-life batteries will also help to reduce environmental impacts and save critical minerals and other natural resources by extending the product’s life cycle.
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Project management and site location
Easy replicability across Europe and beyond is another key objective of the project, a task which is led by Norwegian research organization SINTEF. The battery systems will be supplied by the Norwegian battery designer and manufacturer ECO STOR AS.
Rudskogen is a large motorsport centre that was selected by the Norwegian government as the national motorsport arena in 2005. Rudskogen will have a BESS with a rated capacity of 120kWh and rated power of 60kW.
“Rudskogen Motorsports Center wishes to choose good and sustainable solutions in connection with the expansion and electrification of the facilities. This will facilitate for future electrification of the sport,” says Bård Mikkelsen, Chairman of the board for Rudskogen Motorsports Center AS.
Lempäälä House is a modern building completed in 2020 in the municipal centre of Lempäälä. It will be supplied with a BESS with a rated capacity of 80kWh and rated power of 40kW.
“The pilot sounded immediately interesting and especially the application of demand response is very topical. We’re very excited to see the results so we can further apply them in our future projects as well,” added Ulla Palo-oja, construction manager of Lempäälä municipality.
The battery systems will operate and collect data for research until 2026. The operation of the systems will be optimised throughout this period based on the data and experience.
While no specific timeline has been given, site installation has been slated for Summer 2023 in Finland and Norway (June, July and August).
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TREASoURcE: A Horizon-funded initiative
TREASoURcE is an initiative funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme with a budget of €9.99 million ($10.9 million).
The four-year project (2022-2026) is coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, and the consortium consists of 17 partners from six European countries.
The project aims to initiate systemic change by developing circular economy solutions in cities and regions for currently underutilised or unused plastic waste, end-of-life EV batteries and bio-based waste and side streams.
Implementing these solutions together with companies, societies (including citizens, consumers, communities and regional actors) and experts in the field is expected to significantly increase product and material circulation in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Regions.
With the eventual aim of contributing 9,5 Mtonnes of GHG emission savings, the overall objectives of the project are three-fold:
- Demonstrated environmental, social, economic and political impacts of systemic circular economy solutions in the Nordics
- Replicated locally-tailored systemic circular economy solutions in the Baltics, Poland and beyond
- Inclusive and just transition to circular economy for all, supported by high level cooperation with relevant stakeholders
