Boralex commissions 2nd French battery

• Energy storage plant is set up on the site of the Plouguin wind farm in Brittany

Boralex has commissioned its 2nd energy storage unit in France.

The battery, which has a storage space capacity of more than 3.3 megawatt hrs (MWh), is mounted on the site of the Plouguin wind farm, in Finistère, Brittany.

Boralex was selected for the project following the 2019 launch of an ask for expressions of rate of interest by the Brittany Regional Council.

Endorsed and also sustained by local association Smart Ideas to Link Energies (SMILE), the project was co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The system used for the project was developed by Entech, a storage systems specialist based in Quimper (Finistère).

The Plouguin storage space unit will support security of the French electrical power grid, especially in Brittany, as well as contribute to the integration of renewable energy into the power grid.

"In the current context of increasing renewable energy development as well as growing energy needs, energy storage is a promising remedy for better grid flexibility and extra efficient consumption of affordable, low-carbon energy.

"Thanks to sites like Plouguin and, prior to it, Vallée de l'Arce (Aube, Grand Est), we are looking past just creating green energy.

"We are implemented innovative services to go along with the increase of renewable resources and also add to the energy change," said Nicolas Wolff, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Boralex, Europe.

This commissioning remains in line with Boralex's recurring efforts to progressively present a battery energy storage and take advantage of the considerable price reductions related to storage technology.

Its storage project portfolio now stands at over 800MW worldwide.