Max Bögl Wind AG demonstrates its new power plant and storage concept at the ESNA in California



Max Bögl Wind AG will present its products with a globally unique natural storage technology at this year’s Energy Storage North America (ESNA) fair in San Diego. From August 8 to 10, the company will present its water battery at booth 629.

With the water battery, Max Bögl Wind AG has developed a completely new large-scale storage facility, which sets new standards in a technologically innovative way. For the first time, the production of power from renewable energies, such as from a wind or solar farm or from biomass, will be combined with a modern pumped-storage power plant. The water battery can store surplus power from the grid and the energy can be reused as required. It acts as a short-term storage facility and contributes to maintaining the stability of the grid, as well as guaranteeing continuous, uninterrupted supply. The pumped-storage power plant is available in three performance classes (16, 24 or 32 MW) and can switch between production and storage within 30 seconds.

The first project is currently being developed in Germany near Stuttgart. It consists of a wind farm with four wind turbines and a pumped-storage power plant with an installed capacity of 16 MW. The new storage concept uses the tower base of the wind turbines as water storage facilities with a storage capacity of 70 MWh. A penstock connects them with a hydroelectric power station and the corresponding lower reservoir 200 meters below in the valley.

“The water battery is a natural storage facility which stands out for its durability and high degree of flexibility,” says Jürgen Joos, CFO at Max Bögl Wind AG.