Austrian investors building largest battery unit in Romania

Megalodon Storage intends to complete its 7 MW lithium ion battery storage unit in Ilfov county near Bucharest next year. Construction works began in the spring.

A company controlled by Austrian investors obtained the energy license for a battery storage facility project in the village of Căciulați in the commune of Moara Vlăsiei, Profit.ro reported. Megalodon Storage also has a one-year technical approval for the facility’s connection to the electricity distribution network operated by Enel’s E-Distribuție Muntenia.

The 7 MW lithium ion battery unit in Ilfov county near Bucharest would be the largest in the country. EDPR has the only other system of the kind in operation – 2 MW of power in northern Dobruja or Dobrogea, the article adds. The eastern region is Romania’s wind power hub.

Battery power to be doubled in next phase

Megalodon’s facility will be connected to the Căciulați 110/20 kV transformer station. The plan is to double the unit’s power to 14 MW in the second phase.

Construction works began in the spring and the company intends to get the battery system online next year. It will be used for automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR) for the power grid, also known as secondary reserve.

The Romanian firm is owned by Austrian investment fund Core Value Capital (33.33%), Gerdan Real Estate, a company controlled by executives from Austrian LSG Group – 33.34%, and Austrian solar power plant builder and operator Green Source.

LSG Romania is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Megalodon Storage project. Earlier it said the storage system would have an NMC-type lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 6 MWh, produced in Romania. It means the system would be able to supply 7 MW of electricity for just over 51 minutes.

Two central battery inverters supplied by SMA will enable a direct link with the medium voltage grid, the announcement read.

LSG Group designed Megalodon’s cooling system

The battery modules will be liquid cooled and have a redundant water cooling system, the Austrian construction company and renewable energy developer said. It revealed it designed it on its own, for optimal cooling of each single battery cell. LSG Group is also active in Croatia and neighboring Serbia.

Green Source Energy Management will be responsible for technical and commercial operation and maintenance, according to the same announcement, issued after construction works began.

Electricom is considering a 10 MW battery storage project in Tulcea

Electricity producer and supplier Electricom, part of Bomax group, is considering a project for a battery system of 8 MW to 10 MW in power. It would be installed at its 10 MW wind farm in Tulcea county and the investment is estimated at EUR 5 million. The company intends to use European funds.

Core Value Capital owns one of the largest solar power plants in Romania.  The 50 MW unit is in Giurgiu in the country’s south. The investment fund plans to invest EUR 800 million in Romania in photovoltaic projects with a total capacity of 1 GW.