Construction Begins on Antares Battery Storage in the Netherlands
Antares, Friday, 25 April 2025.
The Antares BESS project in the Netherlands, supported by Meewind and Nationaal Groenfonds, aims to integrate renewable energy into the grid by 2026 with a €85 million investment.
Strategic Location and Technical Specifications
The Antares battery energy storage system (BESS) project broke ground on April 24, 2025, in Waddinxveen, Southern Netherlands [1][2]. The facility will provide substantial energy storage capacity of 100 MW/200 MWh, utilizing over 600 TheBattery Elements modules from Alfen [2]. This strategic installation will connect directly to TenneT’s high-voltage power network, enabling rapid response to power fluctuations and providing enough storage capacity to illuminate approximately 50% of The Hague’s main streets [2].
Partnership and Financial Structure
The project represents a significant investment of €85 million, with ING taking the lead financing role, supported by Meewind and Nationaal Groenfonds [3]. Vattenfall has secured a partnership agreement to operate half of the facility’s capacity, specifically 50 MW/100 MWh, through an eight-year contract [1]. The technical implementation will be managed jointly by Alfen and SPIE Nederland, who are overseeing the engineering, procurement, and construction process, including civil works and smart monitoring software integration [2][5].
Market Impact and Future Outlook
The Antares project emerges at a crucial time for the Dutch energy sector, as the national grid operator TenneT has implemented incentives for solar parks with battery storage, reducing transport tariffs to 65% and anticipating up to 5 GW of battery capacity for flexibility [6]. Return, the project developer, has set ambitious targets to achieve at least 3 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030, with plans to expand their BESS portfolio to 7 GW by 2032 [1]. This aligns with Vattenfall’s broader strategy to develop up to 1.5 GW of external BESS capacity across Northwest Europe’s electricity market [5].