With smart storage technology
to the energy self-supplier
150 Commeo energy storage blocks including intelligent control system
When you reach for freshly harvested vegetables or lettuce in the supermarket, there is a good chance that it is produce from South Oldenburg: Mählmann Gemüsebau has been one of Germany’s largest and most innovative vegetable growers for almost four decades. Over 1500 seasonal harvest workers and a team of more than 180 permanent employees harvest first-class vegetables here for the food retail trade. In the meantime, even throughout Europe.
The photovoltaic system on Mählmann’s four new hall roofs generates more than 3.9 megawatt-peak electricity.
The area of the family business is considerable and resembles a small, self-sufficient industrial area. For the harvest workers from Poland and Romania, the company has built modern hotel facilities with their own supply infrastructure including a supermarket and recreation areas. In addition, there are production and storage halls as well as the administration building and other residential buildings on the approximately 25-hectare site.
Mählmann is also self-sufficient when it comes to energy: This year, a photovoltaic system with an area of almost 20,000 m² and a total output of 3.9 megawatt peak has been installed on the roofs of four newly built halls. Enough electricity to supply a small village, and more than the company needs. But feeding it in is not worth it. It is better to use the energy in the existing own network to reduce the company’s consumption and to absorb power peaks.
150 Commeo energy storage blocks
BESS container (battery energy storage system)
This is made possible by a specially developed storage solution consisting of 150 COMMEO energy storage blocks including an intelligent control system – the heart of the energy concept and housed in a 12-metre-long, air-conditioned container equipped with fire protection technology.
800 kWh is the capacity of the lithium-ion storage units, which can be fed into the company’s power grid or temporarily stored from the PV system. “The size of the battery cabinets can be scaled and expanded later. Only the size of thecontainer has to be determined initially,” explains Timo Herden, project manager at our Visbek site.
“This project is also designed for the future. For example, in the long term it should be possible to convert the company’s vehicle fleet to electric mobility and charge the vehicles from the storage unit at night.” The control system for this is already integrated, so that a later expansion is possible without complications.
“What is remarkable about this project is that we can call on the complete range of services of the SCHULZ Group here,” explains our project manager for networked energy solutions, Matthias Meyer. “From the construction of the PV system to the construction of the storage container including the control system, the installation of the control cabinets and electrical work to the overall commissioning – many colleagues from different locations and company subsidiaries worked together hand in hand. We can use all our know-how – and realise once again how much fun it is to implement such great projects together,” Meyer enthuses.
In this project, we were able to call on the complete range of services offered by the SCHULZ Group.
Matthias Meyer, Project Manager for Networked Energy Solutions
