SAK broke ground on the construction of a large-scale battery storage facility east of the substation in Rheineck in the canton of St.Gallen on 13 March. According to a statement, the new storage system will have a storage capacity of 6.24 megawatt hours and will contribute to the energy transition and stabilization of the regional power grid. The general contractor is Kreuzlingen-based eSpectrum AG, which manufactures energy storage systems.
The new storage facility will primarily be used by Swissgrid. As a transmission system operator, Swissgrid works to ensure a secure and stable electricity grid. The switch to renewable energies as part of Energy Strategy 2050 requires options for storing electricity, as weather-related fluctuations in energy generation repeatedly lead to surpluses in energy production. These can be used in times of low electricity production.
Battery storage systems are particularly important for absorbing peak loads and relieving the load on the grid infrastructure. “Although it is not the first or largest of its kind, it perfectly meets SAK's requirements and goals in relation to the energy transition," Simon Mettler, Project Manager for Innovation at SAK, is quoted as saying in the statement.
