Gigawatt-hour grid storage to be built in Brandenburg
Energy transition needs storage. The energy provider LEAG is building a large battery in Brandenburg, which is expected to go into operation in about two years.
Artistic representation of the LEAG site Jänschwalde with grid storage
(Image: LEAG)
From a fossil fuel to a renewable energy site: A giant electricity storage facility is to be built in Jänschwalde near Cottbus. It will be among the largest accumulator systems of its kind worldwide.
The GigaBattery Jänschwalde 1000 is intended to store electricity from solar and wind power plants and feed it into the grid during times when neither is available. The storage capacity is to be four gigawatt-hours. This is enough to supply over 1.6 million households with electricity for four hours, the energy provider LEAG reports. The storage facility is to deliver a power output of 1 gigawatt, half of what the nearby Jänschwalde lignite power plant provides.
The project is a cooperation between LEAG and Fluence Energy GmbH. The German subsidiary of the US company will supply Smartstack storage modules that use lithium iron phosphate cells and set them up. Fluence will also be responsible for the system integration of the electrical engineering systems. Siemens will supply the switchgear for connection to the 380-kilovolt power grid.
LEAG builds energy infrastructure in Lusatia
The facility is part of LEAG's GigawattFactory project. The energy provider aims to build new gigawatt-scale energy infrastructure at its old power plant and opencast mine sites in Lusatia, including wind and solar farms, gas power plants, and storage facilities. Lignite mining in Jänschwalde was only stopped at the end of 2023. A solar park is being built on the reclaimed area of the opencast mine, with the first construction phase having a peak output of around 133 megawatts.
Construction of the new storage facility is expected to begin in May or June 2026. The storage facility could go into operation at the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028, as a LEAG spokesperson told PV Magazine.
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The storage facility in Jänschwalde could temporarily become by far the largest in Germany. The currently largest grid batteries have capacities of around three gigawatt-hours. Larger ones are under construction. In Förderstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, an electricity storage facility with a capacity of 714 megawatt-hours is being built. When completed, it will be the largest German accumulator.
(wpl)
