Daimler will start building this year a new battery storage facility. However, it’s not quite an usual one.
What makes it different is the kind of battery used. All the units are spare parts for Daimler automobiles. About 3,000 Smart Electric Drive battery packs will be pooled to ensure a total of 15 MW storage. This stationary storage facility will be situated in Herrenhausen and it’s going to be one of the largest in Europe. It will also operate as a spare parts storage facility for electromotive battery systems. This efficient dual use helps improving the life cycle assessment and the total cost of e-mobility.
Daimler, Accumotive and enercity will work together to create a complex piece of engineering. The concept starts from the idea of using specific charging and discharging periods for each battery module in order to maintain them 100% functional. This prevents deep discharging, which could affect the capacity of a module. The costs for this kind of regular cyclizing procedure would be too big. Instead, two tricks had been adopted: balancing the fluctuation of power coming from the grid and creating a top management system to keep batteries cool and optimally charged.
The two solutions adopted by the planners keep batteries at full potential for the longest possible time. It’s contribution to stabilize the power grid is obvious: in case of increasing the electricity demand, the battery store supplies the extra energy needed for maintaining a constant electricity level. The battery pack recharges then, using wind and solar energy without any loss.
