Battery Storage
Turn your battery into a source of income

By participating in the Next Kraftwerke Virtual Power Plant, you gain easy and cost-effective access to the balancing energy market. This allows you to profitably use the flexibility potential of your battery. Next Kraftwerke takes care of the technical and regulatory aspects of participating in the balancing energy market for you. Does your battery serve another primary purpose? That's no problem either: You can concentrate fully on your core business and generate additional profits. The primary use of your battery, for example for peak shaving or mobility, is not affected by participation in the balancing energy market.

Your battery storage can become part of the Next Pool Virtual Power Plant if it has at least 400 kW and about one hour of storage capacity. Your battery also needs a remote control unit, such as the Next Box, and must prequalify for the balancing energy market. Next Kraftwerke will provide the remote control unit and prequalify your battery for you.

Batteries can provide, besides aFRR, the most profitable form of control energy, primary control reserve (FCR/R1). This is the shortest-term form of control reserve and is called up as soon as the grid frequency deviates from the normal value, both positively and negatively.

Next Box: With the Next Box we establish the connection of your battery storage to the virtual power plant: Your battery communicates with our control system via a secure mobile phone connection. Control system: The data of all plants bundled in the Virtual Power Plant flow together in the control system. This way we know exactly how much control energy we can offer. Our control energy bids subject to a surcharge must always be available in the Next Pool during the reservation period.

Primary reserve capacity (FCR) must be available within 30 seconds, and delivery must continue uninterrupted for at least 15 minutes. Checks are conducted as part of prequalification tests to identify how much positive and negative capacity can be produced in this time frame. This ‘capacity range’ can be sold on the control reserve markets after a bidding process conducted in advance. Unlike the tertiary or secondary reserve, primary reserve is not activated by a command from the TSO. Instead, it is triggered by grid frequency. This is measured directly on the biogas asset; depending on the deviation, the asset immediately delivers positive or negative primary reserve. Due to the constant availability, there is no difference between the capacity price and the energy price - compensation is automatically set at the capacity price. The Belgian TSO Elia procures four different FCR products: two symmetrical and two assymetrical. The symmetrical products are FCR 100 mHZ and FCR 200 mHZ, respectively responding in a frequency deviation band of +- 100 mHz and +- 200 mHz around 50 Hz. The assymetrical products require an activation in only one direction, respectively upwards or downwards for FCR upward and FCR downward. The different products are shown in the figure above.