LESSY project was with Evonik cells now with LG Chem cells ...

http://corporate.evonik.com/en/media/search/pages/news-details.aspx?newsid=36874

"The battery storage system developed in the course of the LESSY (Lithium Electricity Storage SYstem) project with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy started commercial operation at the STEAG power plant in Völklingen-Fenne in February 2014, and was one of the first lithium-ion storage batteries in Germany to be approved for network stabilization duty."

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/11/20151110-steag.html

STEAG investing €100M in a total of 90 MW of grid energy storage systems with LG Chem Li-ion batteries

10 November 2015

German utility STEAG is investing around €100 million in grid energy storage systems (ESS) totalling 90 MW, equipped with Li-ion cells from LG Chem. Six 15 MW systems—each containing five 3 MW units—will be put into service at six STEAG German power plant sites in Herne, Lünen and Duisburg-Walsum (all in North Rhine-Westphalia) and in Bexbach, Fenne and Weiher (all in the Saarland). Using the existing plant sites provides synergies in the infrastructure and therefore keeps the investment costs low, STEAG said.

All systems consist of power converters, a transformer, batteries and the control system, mounted inside the container for easy transportation and installation in a “plug and play” solution.

Nidec ASI will take on the role of Main Contractor (EPC), responsible for the installation and commissioning of the plants.

The storage systems are to be used to provide primary control power—a service for stabilization of the networks—for which the Transmission System Operators invite bids on a weekly basis. Primary control serves to stabilize the network frequency when there are short-term fluctuations in the grid (caused, for example, by uneven feed-in of energy from renewable sources which deviates from the forecasts, by power plant outage or by fluctuations in consumption). The six systems are to be operated independently of the STEAG power plants and are capable of relieving the grid fully automatically within a few seconds when there is surplus supply, and also in reverse feeding energy into the grid.

Storage facilities and the creation of flexibility are essential elements in the implementation of the energy transition in Germany. STEAG has therefore decided to make this investment in large-scale batteries for deployment on the control power market, without making use of grants or subsidies.

—Joachim Rumstadt, Chairman of the Board of Management of STEAG GmbH

STEAG’s large-scale batteries will satisfy the current performance criteria for battery storage systems supplying primary control power—e.g., the requirement of being capable of providing primary control power for at least 30 minutes.

STEAG has already successfully put a smaller ESS (1 MW capacity) on the market for control power in the form of the LESSY system at the Völklingen-Fenne power plant.

The battery storage system developed in the course of the LESSY (Lithium Electricity Storage SYstem) project with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy started commercial operation at the STEAG power plant in Völklingen-Fenne in February 2014, and was one of the first lithium-ion storage batteries in Germany to be approved for network stabilization duty.