Europe’s largest battery storage project secures approval

Netherlands-based Giga Storage has obtained the irrevocable permit for the construction of a 600 MW/2,400 MWh BESS project in Belgium called the GIGA Green Turtle. This milestone ensures that financing for the project, which is set to be Europe’s largest, can be arranged.

The project will be located in Dilsen-Stokkem in eastern Belgium, and is positioned adjacent to a new 380 kV high-voltage station run by transmission system operator Elia. The site is located on the high-voltage line from Van Eyck to Gramme.

The battery park will be built on an industrial estate that was previously home to a zinc factory. In the past, there were already plans for the realization of a battery park at this location by another energy company before Giga Storage acquired the land from the zinc factory owners.

The project will feature 20 batteries, each with an inverter, 185 medium voltage transformers, five high-voltage transformers with a total capacity of 1,500 MVA, as well as 25,650 square meters of planting zone around the new battery park.

GIGA Green Turtle will store the average energy consumption of 330,000 families annually and feed it back into the electricity grid, the developer said.

Construction is expected to start in 2025, with an estimated completion in 2028. According to the developer, the system will play a key role in Belgium and Europe’s energy transition.

“By developing utility-scale energy storage at strategic locations, energy prices will become more stable, and we will become less dependent on the import of (fossil) energy,” Ruud Nijs, CEO of GIGA Storage said in January when the project was first announced. “While this project will be the largest battery in Europe, much more storage capacity will be needed in the coming years.”

Giga Storage said it aims to deliver 5 GW of BESS projects in Europe by 2030. Projects such as the 300 MW/1,200 MWh BESS in the Delfzijl region in the Netherlands are already under development, and the company expects to announce several more projects in various European countries in the coming years.

The Dutch developer has previously delivered a 12 MW/7.5 MWh battery in the Netherlands in 2020, followed by another 25 MW/48 MWh system in 2022. According to its website, Giga Storage has another project in its pipeline, a 300 MW battery park located near the Van Eyck high-voltage station in Kinrooi, only 15 kilometers away from the GIGA Green Turtle location.