When the EV battery comes to the end of its life, its green benefits fade, or does it? Well as I’ve said many times, that's not the case, and here is another example of what happens to an EV battery once its life in a vehicle is over, and before it goes off to be fully recycled.
Key points
The pilot project has a storage capacity of around 4.5 megawatt hours
The trial operation started in November 2021
Innovative concept increases operating voltage and cuts costs
Second-life batteries are perfect for use in stationary power storage systems.
These batteries can still have up to ten years of remaining service life.
German energy company RWE is piloting a second life EV battery storage system alongside pumped storage. Audi and RWE are breaking new ground together to drive the energy revolution forward – RWE has brought an energy storage facility on stream in Herdecke, Germany, that uses used lithium-ion batteries from Audi electric cars. With the help of 60 battery systems, the new type of storage facility on the site of RWE’s pumped-storage power plant on Lake Hengstey will be able to temporarily store around 4.5 megawatt hours of electricity.
The decommissioned batteries provided for the project come from Audi e-tron development vehicles. After their first life in the car, they still have more than 80 percent residual capacity. This makes these “second-life batteries” perfect for use in stationary power storage systems. Depending on how they are used, these batteries still have up to ten years of remaining service life. In addition, they are significantly cheaper than new cells. And that’s what a second life is all about – the carbon emissions generated during battery production are sustainably distributed over two lifetimes (one in the car and one as electricity storage).
RWE has already built a 160-square-meter hall in lightweight design for the 60 battery modules, which weigh around 700 kilograms, on the site of its pumped-storage power plant in Herdecke. The installation of the battery systems inside the hall was completed in October. Individual components were brought on stream beginning in November.
RWE expects to begin marketing the storage capacity of its second-life battery storage system in mid 2022 – initially to support the power grid as part of frequency maintenance. After that, the company plans to flexibly test other marketing methods.
Roger Miesen, CEO of RWE Generation SE, commented: “Powerful battery storage plays an essential role in the energy revolution. Flexible storage technologies are needed to compensate for short-term fluctuations in renewable energy and to stabilize the grid. Battery storage systems are ideally suited for this purpose. Together with Audi, in Herdecke we’re testing how end-of-life high-voltage batteries from electric cars behave as stationary energy storage devices when connected together. The continued use of such ‘second-life’ storage is a sustainable alternative to brand-new batteries. The experience gained from this project will help us identify the applications in which we can most cost-effectively operate such battery systems.”
The findings from the reference storage facility in Herdecke will help RWE build and operate larger storage facilities based on EV batteries in the future. These facilities use an innovative technology in which two modules are connected in series, increasing the operating voltage and reducing costs.
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