Ngen, energetske rešitve d.o.o., Žirovnica, Slovenija, an energy system solutions company, has launched its second battery storage system. The EUR 15 million plant, located in Kidričevo, Slovenija, close to aluminium maker Talum d.d. and considered the biggest in the Balkans, will store excess energy. The company in 2019 launched its first battery storage system in Jesenice, Slovenija, near the SIJ – Slovenian Steel Group steelworks.
Ngen CEO Roman Bernard said that the new project is 15MW rated output and 30MWh capacity, using Tesla’s larger and newer Megapack product. The company has developed its own software solutions steering all devices connected to the system.
“This is only the beginning. For now, we are only linked to the primary grid,” Bernard said, adding that Engen has developed software for controlling the batteries and other decentralized energy assets which works in tandem with Tesla’s Autobidder market opportunity optimization platform. The company said its software is also compliant with various EU trading and grid-balancing platforms, as well as European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) standards.
Talum, majority-owned by the public company ELES Ltd. (Electricity Transmission System Operator), was chosen as a location for the battery storage because the company has the required infrastructure and appropriate connections to the grid, and uses a lot of power. Talum believes the storage system will provide an additional level of energy security, allowing the facility to operate in case of short-term power outages.
On the other hand, energy from Talum’s generators will be stored in the battery, which will allow the company to provide systemic services and help provide better stability of the grid.
Ngen was established two years ago. It was co-funded by Roman Bernard and Damian Merlak who made millions by selling his cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp in 2018.