Electrabel to develop country’s most powerful rechargeable battery

Electricity producer Engie Electrabel is developing the most powerful rechargeable battery installation in Belgium, to be located in Drogenbos, Flemish Brabant. The lithium-ion batteries should be able to store up to six megawatts of electricity, De Tijd has reported.

The project of Electrabel is a first for Belgium. Lithium-ion batteries are used in smartphones, tablets and cameras but also in electric and hybrid cars. It will be the first time that electricity on the basis of this technology will stored on such a large scale in Belgium.

A capacity of sex megawatts is similar to that of two wind turbines. The largest storage of electricity worldwide on the basis of this technology is 30 megawatts.

The battery is part of a strategy by Electrabel’s French parent company Engie to provide more green energy and services and become less dependent on fossil feuls. Multiple entities of the Engie group are involved, including the Brussels research centre Engie Lab.

“It’s both an industrial project and a technological platform with which we can develop new energy solutions,” explained Engie Electrabel spokesperson Anne-Sophie Hugé. The installation should be operational sometime this summer.

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