In the SYNERG-E project, VERBUND shows that e-mobility and grid security are not a contradiction in terms

Over the past four years, VERBUND has installed and commissioned nine local battery energy storage systems at high-performance charging sites operated by SMATRICS EnBW in Austria and by Allego in Germany. VERBUND has thus taken the next important step on the road to the energy future in the EC-funded SYNERG-E project and successfully completed the project.

"With SYNERG-E, we have set a milestone for the convergence of energy and mobility infrastructure in Europe," says Karl Zach, Project Manager SYNERG-E, VERBUND Corporate Innovation & New Business, summing up the essence of the forward-looking project. "We are already observing that fast charging is increasing significantly and the associated rise in power requirements. A trend that will intensify by 2030 and beyond. With increasing expansion of renewable energies such as wind and PV, the provision of flexibility for the power grid is also becoming more and more important. With the stationary battery storage systems of the SYNERG-E project, we manage to address both problems!"

Mobility and grid stability

The main task of local battery storage is to relieve the load on the electricity grid through "peak shaving". When e-cars are charging at high-power charging locations with up to 350 kW, part of the required energy comes from the local battery storage. This ensures that the electricity grid is not overloaded and that grid charges remain within limits. During phases when the charging stations are not frequented, the battery storage units of up to 500 kW / 500 kWh are charged with 100% renewable electricity from VERBUND and their flexibility is used for the provision of grid services.

"During the implementation of the innovation project, the teams were repeatedly confronted with major challenges. The learning curves were extremely steep on all sides," project manager Zach describes. "The changing framework conditions due to the pandemic also challenged us in every way. That makes success all the more important. With SYNERG-E, we have taken on a completely new topic and gained valuable experience that is helpful in coupling mobility and energy infrastructure."

Battery storage in use on the energy market

The flexibilities of all nine battery storage units are used on the balancing energy and intraday markets in Germany and Austria. The intelligent control system ensures that the batteries are charged at the most favourable times and marketed on the energy market.

Using synergies, connecting sectors

SYNERG-E addresses the sector coupling of energy and mobility and was funded from the first Synergy Call of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the European Commission. "After the successful completion of the project, the battery storage systems will continue to provide valuable services in the energy and mobility sector beyond the project duration and thus make an important contribution to the success of the energy transition. The experience gained from the project has contributed significantly to the development of battery storage products and services at VERBUND," adds Karl Potz, Head of the Battery Solutions Centre, VERBUND Energy4Business. With more than 70 MW of large-scale battery storage facilities in Germany, VERBUND is positioning itself as a strong partner for German distribution grid operators.

www.verbund.at/batteriespeicher

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November 2020, Austria. In recent months, VERBUND has commissioned three local battery storage facilities at high-power charging hubs in Austria in Vienna, Feldkirchen near Graz and Innsbruck as well as at two locations in Germany in Bergkirchen and Heppenheim. Further three locations are planned by the end of the year. This marks an important milestone for the SYNERG-E project with half of the overall targeted locations being in operation. First battery storage units for use in the control energy market The battery storage facilities in Vienna, in Feldkirchen near Graz and Innsbruck are the first battery storage facilities in Austria to be prequalified for the control reserve market. The two battery storage facilities in Bergkirchen and Heppenheim are in the prequalification process and are intended to be used in the control reserve market in Germany. In addition, the flexibility of the batteries can also be used for the intraday market. 

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SYNERG E location Bergkirchen Bavaria web

 

October 2019, Austria. Only a few days after the commissioning of the local buffer batteries at the high-power charging locations in Vienna, Feldkirchen near Graz and Innsbruck, EU Project Officer Agnieszka Iwanowska-Biel had announced her intention to visit the project’s sites in Austria to get an overview on the progress of the SYNERG-E project. During the site-visits in Vienna and Feldkirchen, the individual components, i.e. ultra-fast charging station, battery energy storage, grid connection, Smart Grid Management System and the functioning of the overall system were presented live. Additionally, the two main use cases in the SYNERG-E project, peak-load smoothing during high-power charging and the provision of grid services, were demonstrated on-site. The deployment and commissioning of the first three battery energy storage systems form a major milestone of the SYNERG-E project. By the end of 2020, a total of 10 battery storage units are planned to be deployed at high-power charging stations in Austria and Germany. More information on VERBUND battery storage solutions are available here: www.verbund.com/batteriespeicher

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From 29.-30. October 2018, the informal meeting of transport and environment ministers was organised in Graz, as part of the Austrian EU Presidency. As part of the informal meeting, a number of Austrian companies and projects presented their sustainable mobility solutions. SYNERG-E was part of the exhibition, focussing on sectorial integration of energy and transport by deploying local battery storage solutions at high power charging sites. As part of the exhibition, the new project video was launched.



Ljubljana, 25th-27th April 2018. SYNERG-E was presented in a joint project booth at the TEN T Days in Ljubljana. The joint stand focussed on innovative projects dealing with high power charging, local battery storage and green hydrogen, alltogether adressing the synery of sectors energy - transort - industry. Projects exhibited at the stand:

  • SYNERG-E
  • E VIA FLEX E
  • CEUC Central European Ultra Charging
  • TSO2020
  • H2FUTURE, and
  • New Energy Coalition.

During the 2.5 days of exhibition, stakeholders from EC, project partners and promoters, Ministries visited the joint booth to discuss the synergy of sector approach.

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 From left to right: Mr Jan Cupal (VERBUND AG, project Coordinator), Ms Violeta Bulc (Transport Commissioner European Commission) at the "Synergy in Motion" stand in Ljubljana.

On 15th March 2015, the SYNERG-E project organised an event to discuss with experts the synergy of sectors and how sectorial integrated projects could become a pathway to decarbonisation of transport and energy. Around 30 experts from energy utilities, e-mobility operators, technology providers, grid operators as well as the European Commission were present at the event. The event featured not only insights of the SYNERG-E project, but also its “sister-project” ultra-E deploying high performance chargers in Europe, TSO2020, another synergy project with focus on Green Hydrogen as well as NeMo, a R&D project developing and testing local load management of EVs. All in all, the event made very clear that projects addressing the synergy of sectors are an important step towards decarbonising both transport and energy.

The key note presentations are available for download here:

Opening Remarks by Hemut Morsi (DG move)

The SYNERG-E project at a Glance by Jan Cupal (VERBUND Solutions)

The TSO2020 Project by Jan Veijer (gasunie)

High Power Charging Project ultra-E by Tobias Wronski (Allego)

Scaling up of Local Storage Systems by Karl Zach (VERBUND Solutions)

The H2020 Project NeMo by Angelos Amditis (ICCS)

Synergies of Distributed Battery Storage with Conventional large scale Hydropower by Martin Schrott (VERBUND Hydropower)