Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) has initiated market consultations on the construction of a battery-based energy storage facility at the Żarnowiec Peak-and-Pump Power Plant – one of the largest projects of its kind in Europe. The investment is to be implemented between 2024 and 2027.

“In the PGE Group, energy storage facilities are recognised as a future source of stable revenues and one of the key solutions in the energy transition process. The increase in the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation entails an increase in the power system’s need for energy storage”, reports PGE.

Energy storage facilities will ensure stable operation of the National Power System in conditions of volatility of energy generation via renewable sources while gradually phasing out coal-fired power generation. The power of the Żarnowiec storage facility will be no less than 200 MW and the capacity is expected to be over 820 MWh. 

PGE has indicated that the consultation phase precedes the procurement procedure, and its aim is to identify optimal variants for the realisation of the investment and to prepare the procurement documentation in a way that will ensure the most competitive nature of the tender. According to the assumptions, the investment will be implemented between 2024 and 2027, and its value will be known once the bids are received.

The implementation of the large-scale energy storage facility will allow for the provision of regulatory system services to the Transmission System Operator, as well as for balancing the company’s local onshore wind farms and future wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

Potential revenues for the planned installation will also be generated from the capacity market and from price arbitrage – earning the difference between the price of energy drawn from the grid when it is cheapest and that returned to the grid during peak demand.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński