Energy Storage & Fuel Cell Industry
International JV to Invest Nearly Half Billion in German Battery Projects
British-Irish firm VPI, a subsidiary of Dutch conglomerate Vitol, is teaming up with Norway’s Quanititas Energy on the initiative.
Nov 06, 2024
The joint venture will be putting EUR 450 million into Germany to develop as much as 500 megawatts of battery storage capacity in the coming three to five years. Ten projects are anticipated mostly in Germany’s northeast.
The JV is hoping to service a growing demand as renewables, particularly solar, make up a larger and larger percentage of Germany’s electricity supply. Nearly 15 percent of power generated in Germany in the first half of 2024 came from the sun.
“In Germany a lot of the opportunity is on the wholesale market,” VPI Chief Executive Jorge Pikunic told Reuters news agency. “That is because a lot of the renewable base is solar which creates price differentials within the day.”
The fact that solar electricity generation is greatest at midday results in price fluctuations. Batteries help balance supply and demand allow companies to sell electricity during high price windows and buy it when prices are lower.
Vitol is the world’s largest energy trader. This is the first time that its subsidiary VPI has invested in Germany.
