Japanese firm launches CEE’s first sodium-sulfur battery storage system

The groundbreaking 500 kW NAS battery-based energy storage system (ESS) has been successfully put into operation at windows, doors and blinds manufacturer Rollplast’s plant in Kostinbrod, 15km from Sofia, west Bulgaria. 

At the Kostinbrod plant, two containerized units have been deployed and the NAS system in integrated with rooftop solar PV generation, in Japanese industrial ceramics maker NGK’s first foray into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Its primary purposes include boosting consumption of locally generated solar energy and storing surplus energy for sale to the grid. 

The ESS boasts a 2,900 kWh capacity, or nearly six hours of usage. This market entry is seen as promising for NGK and BASF, who see CEE as holding potential.

Fully realising the region’s energy storage potential, however, may require government subsidies, market reforms, and a deep understanding of grids and the commercial and regulatory landscapes, they commented at the recent Energy Storage Summit Central and Eastern Europe.

Battery energy storage system integrator Fluence suggested at the same event that CEE could yet leapfrog more established markets.