From around the world: a 10 MWh project using second-hand batteries has been launched at an Italian airport

The largest second-hand battery energy storage system in Italy has been officially launched at Rome-Fiumicino Airport.

The Pioneer project, developed by state-owned gas and electricity company Enel, has a capacity of 2.5 MW/10 MWh and comprises 762 battery blocks and modules. Half of the batteries come from Mercedes-Benz, while electric vehicles (EVs) from Stellantis – whose brands include Chrysler and Citroën – supplied approximately 30% of the batteries for the Pioneer project, with the remainder coming from Nissan.

The project was developed in collaboration with Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), which manages the airport, and also drew on the expertise of the German research institute Fraunhofer.

Rome-Fiumicino Airport already boasts the largest solar energy project for self-consumption at a European airport, and the Pioneer project will be integrated into this facility.

Approximately €3 million ($3.4 million) of the total construction cost of €5.5 million was provided by the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Agency (Cinea) under a call for proposals for small projects from the Innovation Fund launched by the European Commission in 2020.

Nicola Rossi, head of innovation at Enel, said yesterday that energy storage costs, which ‘were €1,400 per kilowatt in 2010, are now between €100 and €130 per kilowatt.’ Thanks to this dramatic drop in prices, he said, global battery storage capacity has grown from around 30 GWh in 2022 to 100 GWh a year later and 170 GWh last year. Rossi added that ‘energy storage is growing at a rate of around 70% per year.’

Francesca Gostinelli, Head of Enel X Global Retail, said: ‘Pioneer works with optimisation software that has several databases at its disposal: the airport's photovoltaic system operation, the airport's real-time electricity consumption, and battery operation. All of this is optimised so that measures are taken at the most appropriate time and energy is supplied when consumption is highest.’

Battery reuse
During a media visit to the facility, Rossi explained that reused batteries from electric vehicles ‘are still adequate and have 80% of their residual energy to provide this service.’

‘We don't have any similar projects planned yet, but we expect a global storage capacity of around 2.3 GW over the next three years and will assess on a case-by-case basis where this option is also advantageous.’

About Pioneer, he added: ‘We think it could last 10 to 15 years, which is slightly less than a new battery factory, but it's still very significant and enough to pay off the investment.’

Rossi said: ‘At that point, they will be completely depleted because we discharge them to a minimum functional level in this type of application, and they can be sent for recycling.’

ADR CEO Marco Troncone said the airport management company plans to nearly triple its solar energy production capacity to more than 60 MW, so a similar increase in energy storage capacity could be useful.

‘We are waiting for technological innovations that will reduce the cost of energy storage systems, even non-innovative ones such as this, to a sustainable level,’ he said. ‘Until then, our solar farm will continue to operate in conjunction with our traditional production capacity, which is currently based on methane but will be converted to biomethane by 2030.’

The visit was also attended by Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, Mayor of Fiumicino Mario Baccini, ADR President Vincenzo Nunziata, ADR Aviation Director Ivan Bassato, Enrico Loccioni, President of Italian measurement technology company Loccioni, Claudio Eminente, Central Director for Economic Planning and Infrastructure Development at the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC), and Annachiara Vercellin, Project Advisor at the Cinea Innovation Fund.