More and more companies are offering a home battery. But a calculation by RTL News recently made it clear that you should not buy such a device to reduce your energy costs. Even home battery provider Charged admitted this. “Everyone recognizes that the payback period is too long,” said owner Roeland Nagel.
Energy company Zonneplan now says that it may still be interesting to purchase a battery. The expectation is that a battery costing 8,000 euros will be recouped in five years. The condition is that you must also be able to charge and discharge the battery on the so-called imbalance market.
Imbalance market works differently
Imbalance market? Yes, that is a market where consumers are not currently active. Most receive electricity for a fixed price through a fixed contract through their energy company. Others opt for a variable contract where the price can change every few months.
For some time now you have also been able to choose dynamic. In that case, the price of electricity varies every hour. These prices are announced one day in advance. This way you can be smart about usage, such as charging the electric car or a home battery.
These dynamic contracts work with the prices on the so-called day-ahead market. There is also the long-term market and the intraday market, but you can forget that. Zonneplan’s home battery does business on the imbalance market.
On the imbalance market, the price varies every quarter of an hour and responds to sudden events, when demand suddenly does not match supply. This is possible, for example, if the wind suddenly stops, if there is a malfunction in a power plant or if a user suddenly purchases more than previously indicated.
The prices for energy on the imbalance market are higher and more erratic than normal energy prices. And those prices are therefore a lot more interesting. Zonneplan now claims that if you can automate charging and discharging, you can still make money with the battery.
Powerplay
Zonneplan offers a total package where you sign a contract with their own energy company. You then get a home battery in combination with an automation process that follows prices on the energy markets. This is done on the basis of artificial intelligence. The company calls this AI platform ‘Powerplay’.
The battery therefore charges cheaply when there is a surplus of electricity on the grid and sells that electricity at high prices when there are shortages. This way you stabilize the electricity grid. Zonneplan’s home battery can charge with 10 kW of power.
Are there any catches? Henry Lootens, electrical specialist, has some comments. Perhaps the most important thing is that you have no guarantees that you will recoup your investment. The energy market is changing rapidly. More and more initiatives are also being added. “The more people and companies become involved in these types of energy markets, the greater the spread of uncertainty.”
And what about battery life? Solar plan is talking about it 10 to 15 years, depending on how heavily the battery is loaded. Practice must show what it will be.
Demopage
Zonneplan published a demo page this week, showing the performance of a 20 kWh test installation in Zwolle can be followed live. This way you can at least see how the device is doing. The battery goes up and down all day: one quarter of an hour the battery charges, while the next fifteen minutes it can decide to discharge again. The battery has earned 600 euros since it was installed on November 1.
Last Tuesday, the home battery, called Nexus, achieved a record. On that day, immediately after sunset, there was suddenly no wind for a while – and that was apparently an interesting moment to let energy from the battery flow into the grid. The installation earned more than 20 euros in one day.
The expectation is that the Zonneplan battery of 8,000 euros will be recouped in five years. The smaller variant with 10 kW storage in just under six years.
Green power
The energy company states on the website that you are also being green with the battery. The battery reduces CO2 emissions from fossil power stations, the company says. After all, one moment there is too much cheap green energy, which fills the battery. At other times, fossil power plants have to step in. But they don’t have to run as fast, because at that moment the Zonneplan batteries can discharge the (green) energy.
Lootens, the price on the imbalance market does not necessarily say anything about how ‘green’ that electricity is. The energy on the imbalance market can also be cheap because consumers and companies demand less energy than previously predicted.
“You cannot indeed translate that 1 to 1,” admits Frank Breukelman of Zonneplan. “But last Tuesday, on our peak day, there was a lot of sun, so the batteries were charged and discharged with green energy when the sun had set and there was no wind. You can see a clear link.”
Congestion and imbalance
Furthermore, Zonneplan states that the battery helps stabilize the grid. This is certainly the case nationally, but Lootens emphasizes that you must distinguish between congestion and imbalance. Congestion is when you have more energy than can fit through the cables. “That can also happen on your street if everyone purchases such a battery from Zonneplan,” says Lootens. “If those batteries all start to discharge because the price is high, you could have new problems.”
Many regions are currently struggling with grid congestion: in some places the grid is full. If you better match local demand and local supply, space can be created again. In theory, Zonneplan’s batteries could be a solution, but that is not necessarily the case yet.
“We are now mainly committed to giving consumers as much return as possible,” says Breukelman of Zonneplan. “We are able to charge a battery in Groningen and discharge it in Zeeland, because the local energy grid requires something different at that time. But there is no financial incentive to do that yet. In countries such as Sweden and Norway this is the case. .”
2024-03-03 05:35:33
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