Used Taycan batteries provide energy storage for Porsche’s Leipzig plant

About 4400 used Taycan battery modules help power the Porsche Plant Leipzig.

The stationary energy storage system, the size of almost two basketball courts, uses Porsche Taycan batteries from preseries and works vehicles.

The “Second Life” concept demonstrates how used high-voltage EV batteries can be put to good use and conserve resources in a second use phase, says Porsche, adding the idea originated in the Environmental and Energy Management unit of the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer.

The project provides important insights into how to supply an automotive plant with energy in an intelligent fashion, Porsche says.

 It also facilitates the expansion of an adaptable power grid.

“Of course, this is about environmental aspects and the core issue of the energy supply,” says Porsche electrical engineering head Alwin Schmid.

“But it was also important to us to take a pioneering role with the storage system.”

Schmid is the project initiator, based on a feasibility study in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau.

“In this unprecedented model project, we were able to combine a number of different goals, including peak load capping, optimisation of self-consumption and simultaneous participation in the energy market,” says Schmid.

Porsche AG production and logistics executive board member Albrecht Reimold says: “The project exemplifies how we can use resources sustainably and combine this commitment with business efficiency.”

Project insights may allow Porsche to similarly equip other sites.

The Leipzig plant’s battery storage system has five megawatts capacity and 10MW/h energy content.

The storage system can be operated at up to 20% overload for short periods and comprises 4400 individual battery modules divided into four battery containers.

The four battery strings are each connected to an inverter and a transformer in a medium-voltage system.

The entire system, including the battery blocks, is designed for a useful life of more than 10 years with individual battery modules able to be replaced if necessary.

Electricity for the storage system is partly generated by the plant’s own solar systems with a peak output of 9.4MW and it helps to reduce peak loads.

Rapidly controllable energy storage systems such as the Leipzig plant one also play an important role in the energy market, says Porsche.

“The stationary battery storage system will be integrated into the balancing energy market in every marketable form by the end of the year – including, in addition to peak shaving, as a grid stabiliser for the upstream distribution grids.”