Poland begins work on major battery storage site

Poland has begun building one of its biggest battery storage sites, designed to soak up surplus wind and solar power and release it when it is needed, helping to keep the electricity grid stable.

Construction of the Gryfino battery storage facility began on Monday in the north-western village of Nowe Czarnowo. When complete, it is expected to be Poland’s largest battery storage facility in terms of power output (400 MW).

Photo: PAP/Marcin Bielecki

Work started on Monday on the PLN 1.142 billion (EUR 260 million) project near Gryfino in the north-west, which is due to open in September 2028.

Once running, it will be able to store at least 800 megawatt-hours of electricity and deliver up to 400 megawatts to the grid.

W Nowym Czarnowie rozpoczyna się budowa Magazynu Energii Gryfino – jednego z największych magazynów w Europie! Inwestycja @Grupa_PGE o pojemności 800 MWh na kwotę ponad 1,14 mld zł pozwoli lepiej wykorzystywać energię z OZE i zwiększy stabilność systemu energetycznego. To także impuls dla polskiej🇵🇱 gospodarki. Inwestycję realizuje konsorcjum polskich firm, a zakładany udział krajowych dostawców i wykonawców wynosi 65%.

— Miłosz Motyka (@motykamilosz) October 26, 2026

The project is being developed by PGE Energia Odnawialna, part of the energy company PGE, beside the Dolna Odra power station, which supplies north-western Poland and is the country’s largest combined-cycle gas plant.

Government ministers attended the ceremony.

Eliza Zeidler, a deputy state assets minister, said energy production, especially from weather-dependent sources, does not always match demand.

"We need solutions that allow us to make better use of energy produced during periods of surplus and supply it when the system requires it," she told reporters.

The batteries will store excess power from wind turbines or solar panels and release it when renewable output falls and demand rises.

Zbigniew Stępniewski, acting head of PGE Energia Odnawialna, said this could ultimately lower energy costs, because the grid could draw on the batteries at peak times instead of generating more electricity from coal, gas or oil.

Such facilities also help keep the network stable.

Stępniewski pointed to the 2025 blackout on the Iberian Peninsula, which he said was caused by poor voltage control in the transmission network.

Construction will be carried out by a consortium of two Polish firms, SPEC BAU POLSKA and EL Professional.

The batteries will be supplied by Fluence Energy.

Zeidler said the government is pushing for more local involvement in investments by state-owned companies.

PGE is also constructing another large-scale facility at Żarnowiec in the Pomeranian region.

While it will have a lower power output (262 MW), it will feature a higher energy storage capacity of 981 MWh, at a cost of PLN 1.55 billion (EUR 352 million).

Both projects have secured 17-year contracts under Poland’s capacity market, a scheme that pays operators for being ready to supply electricity when it is needed.

(ał)

Source: PAP