The Flexibility Project
Varberg Energi will invest in grid-connected batteries (400 kW/1020 kWh and 5 MW/10-20 MWh) to sell flexibility services to the local, regional and transmission grid. In this project customers’ flexibility resources (solar cells, batteries and wallboxes) will be integrated as well as other locally available renewable generation. Excess electricity which is not needed locally can then be sold on the market (Nordpool). This project is done in cooperation with Ntricity.
Varberg Energi is a municipality-owned local energy company that has a long history of being an early adopter in the energy transition. The company built Sweden’s first large scale wind farm in 1991 and one of Sweden’s first large scale solar power facilities in 2016.
This new battery solution will help develop innovative services and electric solutions and help customers support the development of carbon neutral electricity. Customers will be at the centre of this solution and their engagement and incentives will be needed.
The first two batteries will result in a total investment of approximately €5-10 million. During the first year, approximately 10 employees of the company were involved in the project. From year 3 we expect this to expand to at least 30 employees. The batteries will be aggregated together with customer flexibility and these two segments are expected to contribute substantially to the future profits of the company, as well as its environmental impact.
Quotes from Varberg Energi:
"Gone are the days when you can beat your chest just because you contribute to adding more sun or wind to the system. If you do not also contribute to increasing flexibility, you will not fully contribute to a sustainable electricity market in the long run!”
“The more flexibility you add to the system, the more clean renewable electricity production the system can handle. This way, we can replace the fossil energy that we import from the continent.”
“We are putting our customers in the forefront of the transition to a renewable energy system. They will be able to influence both the replacement of fossil energy and their own electricity bill.”