Energy Storage – we are entering this trend

The Boryszew Group, as a leader in industrial production in Poland, has just announced that, together with EIT InnoEnergy and several large players, it is investing in a new, large European Repono project.

Repono is the first energy storage operator in Europe based in Sweden. As a new player in the emerging market, it will be responsible for the operation of large energy storage systems (ESS) with a target capacity of 100 GWh in Europe. The goals are ambitious – only in the first years of operation Repono intends to gain a 10% share in the European storage market.

The rest of the shareholders include: EIT InnoEnergy, Schneider Electric, SIPLEC (Leclerc), Stena Metall and NTM GmbH. This set of serious investors from all over the continent shows that the power of transformation lies in team activities connecting international leaders.

Most investors in Repono are not involved in the traditional energy sector. This is therefore a signal of a new business trend in Europe, in which industrial companies and producers of industrial and food goods are becoming energy independent. They thus build their own competences and entire service systems in this segment – from energy generation to energy storage.

According to the adopted strategy, Repono will be an operator of European energy storage facilities, connecting the Swedish, Polish, German and Spanish markets. This will facilitate the standardization of the development of energy storage facilities and accelerate their development in order to collect surplus energy from renewable energy sources. Why is it so important?

Industry needs zero- and low-emission energy, but it must be balanced. This means that cheap and green energy must be available to industry not only during windy and sunny hours. Energy storage in this puzzle ensures constant access to emission-free energy, and – most importantly – limits the waste of generation potential by turning off solar and wind installations due to the inability to accept surpluses of cheap and emission-free energy into the system. And such situations happen regularly, also in Poland.

Therefore, we urgently need system flexibility services, and one of its key components are energy storage. Hence the idea of ​​Repono as a pan-European project bringing significant benefits not only to the energy sector, but also to the industry. Also in Poland, where Repono has many ambitious plans. Boryszew Green Energy & Gas will cooperate with Repono in the provision of system and trading services.

Mikołaj Budzanowski,

member of the management board of Boryszew S.A.; president of Boryszew Green Energy & Gas