energy storage & flexibility

In recent years, a lot of renewable energy production has come online in the form of, for example, wind energy, solar parks and geothermal energy. In the coming decade, a large amount of electricity will be added both on land and with the online arrival of offshore wind. With all these plans, it seems feasible to replace a large part of the current production from fossil fuels with production from sustainable sources within a limited time.

Energy Storage & Flexibility

In short

Unlike electricity production from fossil fuels, renewable energy is uncontrollable and unpredictable. In fossil fuel production, the supply of electricity can follow the demand for electricity. In the future, we will have a surplus of electricity when there is a lot of sun and wind and a shortage of electricity on a windless, dark day. This leads to major challenges both in the short term (intraday) and in the long term (seasonal effects).

In the short term, the grid is becoming increasingly unstable due to the increase in unregulated assets and the high demand for grid capacity leads to grid congestion. In the long term, we will have to deal with surpluses and shortages of electricity at times of too much supply or too much demand. Energy storage and ensuring proper system integration play a crucial role in ensuring a stable power grid in the future. For example, batteries can provide grid stability in the middle of frequency, frequency regulation, and storage assets can fill the gap between production and demand.

From different perspectives, Rebel is active in energy storage. For example, we support various project developers in the development, financing and valuation of large-scale storage systems such as grid scale batteries, heat-cold storage and compressed air. We are also involved in several hydrogen initiatives and we think along with system integration for offshore wind projects, where it is extra important that the timing of production and demand follow each other.

Rebel acts as an advisor in storage projects for M&A advice (buy and sell side), calculating a Business Case, thinking along about financing strategy of complex assets and the associated dependencies with various contracting parties, advising on strategy and taking care of and supervising a financing process up to Financial Close.

Rebel also assists governments and other organizations (such as energy cooperatives) with their energy storage and flexibility issues. Rebel provides strategic advice on the application of smart solutions by various parties and how policy can effectively encourage this. An example is the Handreiking Slimme Energiesystemen, which Rebel developed on behalf of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency for energy cooperatives, business parks and local governments.