The Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam has launched an energy storage system using Nissan Leaf batteries and Eaton inverters that store energy produced by its solar panel installation.
From 12:00 on Friday 29 June, Europe's largest energy storage system built in a commercial building has been up and running — specifically at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. The stadium has long been pursuing a process of reducing its environmental impact and can now count on a storage system for the energy produced by its solar panels, using 3 megawatts of batteries — both reconditioned and new — sourced from Nissan Leaf electric cars.
The project, which began almost as a challenge three years ago, is the result of a collaboration between Nissan, Eaton, BAM, The Mobility House and the Johan Cruijff ArenA, with the support of the Amsterdam Climate and Energy Fund (AKEF) and Interreg.
The project, whose total cost has not been disclosed, envisages a return on investment within ten years and a useful battery lifespan of between 10 and 15 years.
The 3-megawatt energy storage system, with a nominal capacity of 2.8 MWh, is sufficient to supply power for one hour during events — football matches or concerts (equivalent to charging 500,000 mobile phones or supplying electricity for one hour to 7,000 Amsterdam homes).
The storage installation consists of the batteries from 148 Nissan Leafs, one third of which are reconditioned from cars no longer in circulation and two thirds new. Car batteries, even when considered spent, still retain 70 per cent of their storage capacity, which is why the stadium could operate on 100 per cent reconditioned batteries; the only issue is space — being less efficient than new batteries, a greater number would be needed.
Thanks to four bidirectional Eaton inverters, the installation can draw energy from the grid or from electric cars parked in the stadium's car parks when needed, or alternatively feed energy back into the Dutch electricity grid by selling it to the local operator.
The batteries are powered by a solar panel installation on the roof of the stadium, comprising 4,200 modules with a capacity of 1.1 MWp. The remaining energy the system needs to be self-sufficient is drawn from the grid and is renewable, coming from a wind farm located north of Amsterdam.
"Thanks to this energy storage system, Amsterdam Energy ArenA BV will not only be able to make use of self-generated energy, but will also be able to exchange the energy available in the batteries with the grid," explained Henk van Raan, director of innovation at the Johan Cruijff Arena. "In this way, the stadium secures a large amount of energy, even in the event of a blackout. As an added benefit, the stadium will contribute to stabilising the Dutch electricity grid. The Johan Cruijff Arena is one of the most sustainable stadiums in the world and is paving the way for the introduction of smart innovations such as this energy storage system."
The stadium is equipped with 200 parking spaces with charging points, of which 18 currently operate bidirectionally, with more to follow in the future. The bidirectional charging points allow the facility to charge electric cars parked there when no events are taking place inside the stadium, while during matches or concerts it is the stadium's energy system that draws electrical energy from the cars' batteries, reducing the draw from the electricity grid.
Fans who own an electric car can park at the stadium free of charge and sell the energy stored in their car during matches. Unfortunately, the system only works with Japanese electric cars.
It is a fine project, Amsterdam's — but why a stadium in particular? The answer is not a simple one. There is certainly a technical aspect: a system that consumes a large amount of energy on average once a week, and for the rest of the time can quietly accumulate electrical energy in its batteries and feed it to the grid, is undoubtedly the ideal situation. But there is another reason why a stadium was chosen, as Henk van Raan of the Johan Cruijff Arena explained to us: "Deciding to apply a project of this kind to a stadium means having great visibility — it means raising awareness among thousands of citizens and fans every time they come to the stadium." And to drive change, raising public awareness is essential.
The project, set in motion three years ago, was a gamble for all the parties involved — from the Amsterdam city administration, which owns the stadium, to the technical partners who in some cases had to create entirely new systems and products within their existing lines of business in order to bring it to fruition. "We designed the energy storage system specifically for the needs of the Johan Cruijff ArenA," Frank Campbell, President of Eaton Electrical and Corporate EMEA, explained to us. "This involved designing the power electronics, integrating electric vehicle battery modules and adapting this innovative solution to the stadium's existing infrastructure." The aim is to have created a model that can be replicated in many other stadiums around the world.