Engie begins construction on third Belgian battery park
Energy company Engie started construction on a new battery park on Wednesday. Flemish Brabant. Engie Belgium CEO Vincent Verbeke and Flemish Energy minister Hans Bonte performed the symbolic groundbreaking at Engie's site in Drogenbos, on what will become the company's third battery park in Belgium.
The Drogenbos park will consist of 88 battery containers with a combined capacity of 80 megawatts, capable of supplying power for four hours. Total storage capacity is equivalent to the average daily consumption of 38,400 households. The project represents an investment of 75 million euros and is due to become operational in September 2027.
Battery storage has grown in strategic importance as an ever-greater share of electricity is generated by wind turbines and solar panels - sources that do not always produce when demand is highest. Battery parks store this energy for use during periods of high demand, when it is fed back into the grid.
"Battery parks are essential infrastructure that are key to the further electrification of our systems and the continued roll-out of solar and wind energy," according to Verbeke. "Batteries make renewable energy smart," he said, adding that consumers "also benefit from the availability of affordable, green energy when they need it."
A century of energy in Drogenbos
Engie has been generating electricity in Drogenbos for over a century - the first steam turbine was installed before the First World War - and the company still operates a gas-fired power station on the same site today.
It was also in Drogenbos that Engie launched what it called "the first large-scale test in Belgium" with battery technology in 2017, installing five lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 6 megawatts. "The media referred to it as a 'mega-battery' back then. And look where we are less than ten years later," said Verbeke.
Engie already operates Belgium's largest battery park in nearby Vilvoorde with a capacity of 200 megawatts, and is currently building an additional park in Kallo, in the Port of Antwerp. The projects are part of Engie's commitment to invest up to 4 billion euros in Belgium by 2030.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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