Renault Harnesses Power of New, Used EV Batteries

Groupe Renault is launching a stationary storage system for energy developed entirely from new and used electric-vehicle batteries in Europe.

The Advanced Battery Storage operation will have a storage capacity of at least 60 MWh, making it the region’s biggest system of its kind thus far.

The first facilities will be developed early next year at Renault plants in Douai and Cléon, France, and at a former coal-fired plant in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The storage capacity will be gradually expanded to contain the energy of 2,000 EV batteries. At 60 MWh that is equivalent to the daily consumption of a city of 5,000 households.

Nicolas Schottey, director-Groupe Renault new business energy program, says the aim is to manage the difference between electricity consumption and production at a given time to increase the proportion of renewable sources in the energy mix.

“Our stationary storage solution aims to offset these differences – it delivers its reserves to a point of imbalance in the grid at a given time to reduce the effects,” Schottey says in a statement. “By helping to maintain the balance of the grid, the stationary storage system will boost the economic attractiveness of low-carbon energies.”

The system is built using EV batteries compiled in containers. It uses both second-life batteries and new batteries stored for future use as standard replacements.

Once life as a power source for vehicles is over, EV batteries still are able to store a significant amount of energy. Renault will harness this energy in less-demanding environments such as stationary energy storage.

By giving batteries a second lease on life, Renault says it can cover the spectrum of energy-storage needs, from individual homes to office buildings, factories, schools and apartment blocks – and electric vehicles.