PKP Energetyka has launched the largest traction energy storage in Europe as the first of approximately 300 planned power banks for railways. It is located in Garbce, in the Żmigród commune near Wrocław. The information provided by the Company shows that the investment cost almost PLN 20 million.
According to a member of the management board of PKP Energetyka Leszek Hołda, the energy storage technology both stabilizes the energy system (by increasing the volume of distributed energy without the need to increase connection capacity), and allows the railway to be transformed so that it can be powered by RES. As part of the Green Railway program, it is necessary to ensure the stability of energy supplies regardless of the weather, which prompts the Company to invest in modern energy storage, complementing the Intelligent, Integrated Energy Distribution Management System for Railways.
The warehouse can power the passage of a train at a speed of 160 km / h at a time, which is ensured by four battery containers containing a total of 4,240 lithium-ion cells. The traction energy storage was built in cooperation with the University of Zielona Góra.