Dunkirk: Check Out the Largest Battery Energy Storage Site in France

Renewables are the future. But what if there's no wind or the sun isn't shining? At TotalEnergies, we've got the solution: storage. The extra resource these energies need to balance the production and use of electricity.

And this is what that means. At Dunkirk, we have built and commissioned the largest site for battery electricity storage in France. Its capacity is 61 megawatts, which keeps the electricity supply going for one hour in over 200,000 homes. France's target is to increase renewables in the electricity mix to 40% by 2040.

Renewables are bringing intermittency and variability to the grid. We need storage solutions to balance the grid, which means adapting energy use to generation at the right time.

In Dunkirk, TotalEnergies' teams worked together on the design of the installation to the supply of batteries by its Saft affiliate, via the management of data estimating the use and sale of electricity and the storage capacity. The result was optimized project management and compliance with the highest standards of quality and safety.

We have built a power plant, a battery energy storage solution comprising 27 Saft containers, high energy intensity products which are connected by a power conversion system to the grid.

Let's zoom in on the heart of the system: the containers, 20 feet long, and 28 tons. They use lithium-ion technology and deliver energy performance at the top end of the market. Lithium batteries have several key advantages. One is high density. Today's batteries can reach up to 400 Wh per liter in a very dense pack. Another advantage is that they live longer. Today, the life cycle reaches up to 20 years.

Another advantage is efficiency : Today's lithium-sion batteries reach 98% of efficiency, which means only 2% of energy is lost from the process from charging to discharging. Also, lithium batteries are very cost effective. The result is an innovative, bespoke site that helps to integrate renewables into the energy mix. And as our solution can be replicated all over the world, we have every reason to store tomorrow's energy with you today.