Amsterdam's largest battery storage project so far goes live

Energy storage company GIGA Storage unveiled Giraffe, Amsterdam's largest battery storage system so far. The infrastructure, located in Western Port's area, is expected to last 20 years and has a storage capacity of 47 MWh, equivalent to powering 800 electric vehicles. The Giraffe batteries have an expected lifespan of 20 years and are currently supplying power to the national grid to help balance supply and demand.

The energy storage facility supplies power to the national grid, helping balance supply and demand. GIGA Storage and the Port of Amsterdam are exploring how it can also be deployed locally in the future, for example, to alleviate grid congestion and support local energy contracts with businesses in the port.

"GIGA Storage aims to be a vital link in the energy transition with its large-scale energy storage projects. Thanks to our in-depth expertise and comprehensive process management—from design through long-term operation—we aim to become a significant player in the European market. With every project we complete, we take a step toward a safe, reliable, and future-proof electricity supply," says Kevin Dijkers, CEO of GIGA Storage.

Upscaling battery storage

Founded in 2018, GIGA Storage specializes in developing and managing large-scale battery projects designed to store sustainably generated energy and make it available when it's needed most. Their approach combines hardware and software to optimize energy storage solutions.

The Giraffe project, located in the Westhaven area of Amsterdam, represents GIGA Storage's third large-scale battery park. The strategic location is ideal, given the area's existing infrastructure of approximately 350,000 square meters of solar panels and 73 MW of installed wind turbine capacity. The Giraffe project has a power capacity of 10 MW and a storage capacity of 47 MWh. The system uses 12 Tesla Megapacks 2XL, which leverage lithium-ion LFP technology

The Giraffe project received financial backing from Rabobank and Triodos, with construction managed by K Dekker and Van den Heuvel, who are regular partners of GIGA Storage. The company has previously developed two large-scale energy storage projects, Rhino and Buffalo, both located in Lelystad. Currently, they are constructing a larger battery park, Leopard, in Delfzijl, with a capacity of 300 MW and 1,200 MWh of storage. GIGA Storage aims to build 4 GW of storage across Europe by 2030.