Acciona, a Spanish company specializing in infrastructure and renewable energy, has this week made part of its solar panel park in Tudela (Navarra) capable of storing energy in used batteries. The recycled batteries are directly connected to the electricity grid. It is an experimental set-up for the time being.
Innovative project
The recycled batteries have a combined capacity of 130kWh. They store the energy derived from the solar panel park which has a capacity of 1.2mW. The aim is to analyze the performance and behavior of the storage and discharge of the energy. This innovative project also features a comparative analysis to verify that the recycled batteries perform as well as those that are used for the first time.
In-house control center
The plant contains used batteries (32kWh) from Nissan vehicles. It is not known which cars are involved, but presumably the electric e-NV200 van which is manufactured at a Nissan plant in Barcelona, and which Acciona is also working with.
Acciona, which translated means “action,” operates the system from its in-house renewable energy control center. This control unit monitors in real time not only the park in the Navarre region, but also more than 400 other wind farms, hydroelectric plants, solar panel parks and concentrated solar power installations in 24 countries across the five continents.
Energy storage
The new storage unit is part of Montes del Cierzo’s experimental facilities in Tudela. Acciona specializes in energy storage systems that reuse lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles. The Spanish company is a major European player in Europe in the field of sustainable infrastructure. The energy arm of the company is called Acciona Energía. As it happens, a few months ago Nissan and Acciona were at odds with each other (and with the unions) over the closure of the Nissan plant in Barcelona, which is set to cast over 400 people out onto the streets by 2022.
Read about how energy storage is the key to a society based on sustainable energy.
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