Ruien Energy Storage is a cooperation between the Japanese listed company Nippon Koei, the German investment fund Aquila Capital and the Belgium company YUSO. RES is currently developing a battery-based energy storage system in Ruien (East Flanders, Belgium). The storage system is expected to contribute to the further integration of renewable energy sources in Belgium.
With the ever-increasing integration of renewable energy, the imbalance between the instantaneous generation and the instantaneous consumption on the grid is increasing. To eliminate this imbalance, the temporary surplus must be able to be stored or made available quickly. A storage system with battery technology is ideally suited for this task. RES aims to provide support services to European grid operators (TSOs) and to offer more localized energy services. The project is being carried out at the Ruien site where an 800 MW coal-fired power station used to be located. That polluting plant was demolished and is now making way for the future.
About Nippon Koei
Founded in 1946, Nippon Koei (NK, 1954 JP) is the oldest independent engineering consulting firm in Japan and has worked on over 5000 multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects in 160 countries all over the world. NK’s engineering consulting service solutions cover the whole spectrum of energy infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, water and sanitation, environment and agriculture, urban and industry and public sectors.
With regards to its energy business, NK has strong relationships with transmission operators and a dominant market share in substation control system equipment especially with TEPCO. Through its extensive research and development, NK has been successful in various energy fields such as:
Hydropower: NK supervised the construction of 60 hydropower dams, totaling 20,000 MW of installed capacity;
Electricity transmission and distribution networks: NK provided more than 5,000 km of transmission lines in more than 40 countries;
Renewable energy: NK has conducted comprehensive studies on the introduction and promotion of renewable energy, mainly in rural and remote areas;
Thermal power: NK designed and supervised the construction of thermal power plants (gas turbine, diesel and coal-fired thermal power);
Energy conservation: NK controlled the energy used for more than 200 buildings and factories helping to save up to 20-30% of costs.
For more than 70 years NK provided engineering consulting and EPC services to major energy players in Japan and abroad. The company now supports energy transition focused on new business models such as energy storage, micro grids and VPP.
About Aquila Capital
Aquila Capital is an investment and asset development company focused on generating and managing essential assets on behalf of its clients. By investing in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, Aquila Capital contributes to the global energy transition and strengthens the world’s infrastructure. The company initiates, develops and manages these essential assets throughout the entire value chain and life cycle.
Currently, Aquila Capital manages approximately €13 billion on behalf of institutional investors worldwide, in wind, solar and hydro energy. It has assets of more than 12 GW and over 2 million square meters of sustainable real estate and green logistics projects completed or under development. The company has approximately 600 employees from 48 countries, operating in 15 offices in 13 countries worldwide.
Why YUSO?
YUSO combines the more than 35 years of experience of its management in operating the market with a deep understanding of cloud-based IT infrastructure, automated portfolio management and knowledge of meteorology to meet its clients’ energy needs.