It is the site of the largest permitted battery energy storage system (BESS) on the continent at 2.8GWh, one of the largest under construction at 800MWh, and two under-construction projects announced last week will add another 440MWh to its growing operational capacity.
BSTOR and Duferco Wallonie launch construction of 50MW/140MWh BESS
The launch of construction has been announced on the 50MW/140MWh ‘D-STOR’ BESS, by 50:50 joint venture (JV) partners BSTOR, a BESS developer-operator, and Duferco Wallonie, a redeveloper of industrial brownfield sites.
Work started in October, and the project in La Louvière is scheduled to be operational by summer 2026 and will require an investment of around €70 million (US$72 million).
It is being financed by a non-recourse loan from a banking consortium KBC, Belfius, and Triodos covering 55% of the project costs, with the remaining 45% covered by equity investment.
The D-STOR project will consist of 36 Tesla Megapacks while technical services Equans will provide high-voltage equipment and auxiliary systems for connection to the high-voltage grid of transmission system operator (TSO) Elia. The announcement didn’t specify, but the latest version of the Megapack is the 2XL.
Utility and energy trader Eneco has signed a long-term flexibility purchase agreement (FPA) for the 50MW/140MWh, 2.8-hour duration project, allowing it to use that capacity in different energy markets. Eneco was last week announced as the optimiser for a project in neighbouring Netherlands too.
From a system perspective, the D-STOR project will meet the growing need for ‘fast regulation capacity’ in Belgium, BSTOR said, supporting the grid when there is too much renewable generation due to limited transmission capacity.
The construction of BSTOR’s Belgium BESS is part of an overall master plan for a 3,000 m2 space developed with local and regional authorities, which includes a 25-hectare expansion of a business park.
The firm was behind Belgium’s first large-scale BESS to go into operation, the 10MW/20MWh Estor-Lux project that went online in 2021, and Energy-Storage.news interviewed executives about it shortly after the inauguration.
Energy Solutions Group building 75MW/300MWh BESS in Harmignies
In concurrent news, independent power producer (IPP) Energy Solutions Group (ESG) has completed financing and launched construction on its first large-scale BESS project in Harmignies, in the Wallonia region of Belgium.
The news was announed by law firm Loyens & Loeff, which advised ESG on the financing. A senior loan for the financing was provided by KBC Bank while the junior loan was provided by economic development institution Wallonie Entreprendre.
The project is located on an industrial site next to a high-voltage substation run by Elia and will comprise 82 units of Tesla’s Megapack 2XL. The 4-hour system will become operational in Q4 2025.