ENGIE and Kiwi Power announced in November that the mobile energy storage units that they have jointly developed will soon serve the energy market of the Netherlands. TenneT, which is the national transmission system operator of the Netherlands, has commissioned a number of these units to provide up to 3MW of frequency control and ancillary services. At the same time, they can also be used to support construction projects and outdoor events.
ENGIE and Kiwi are energy developers respectively headquartered in France and the UK. ENGIE mainly operates in the utility market, whereas Kiwi focuses on virtual power plants (VPP). ENGIE is currently the dominant shareholder of Kiwi. The mobile energy storage units are the result of their project known as “Battery Box”.
In terms of specifications, each mobile energy storage unit has an output of 600kW and a 660kWh of storage capacity. They are controlled and monitored through Kiwi’s VPP hardware and software. Due to their ability to move around, they can be used to resolve grid congestion and provide power anywhere and anytime. Construction sites, outdoor festivals, and places that experience power outages are some of the application examples.
Since the mobile energy storage units are integrated to become a VPP thanks to Kiwi’s hardware and software, they will be able to assist TenneT in balancing the regional grid by participating in the market for frequency control reserve (FCR). According to the reporting from the media, owners of the mobile energy storage units that are operating in the Netherlands include ENGIE and Bredenoord, a Dutch firm specializing in decentralized energy systems. They expect to draw additional revenue from the FCR market.
ENGIE and Kiwi are not the only ones working on this kind of technology. A German startup named Greener Engineering has also developed mobile energy storage units for grid maintenance, EV charging, construction sites, and outdoor events. This February a Dutch renewable energy retailer GreenChoice announced that it will add charging docks to its wind farms in Hellegatsplein. These charging docks will work with the mobile energy storage units developed by Greener Engineering.
Kiwi stated that the Netherlands represents its 10th regional markets in Europe. Furthermore, the company has recently entered the US and secured ENGIE North America as its first customers there. Together, Kiwi and ENGIE North America will be developing projects related to demand response and power trading. They will initially participate in the Texas market managed by ERCOT and then expend into the interstate market managed by PJM.
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