Vattenfall greenlights 1 GWh battery at former Brunsbüttel nuclear site
New CapabilitiesOne of Europe's largest battery storage projects will repurpose land and grid access from a retired nuclear plant
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Overview
Updated 56 minutes agoVattenfall announced a final investment decision to build a 254-megawatt, 1,000-megawatt-hour battery storage system at the site of its retired Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. When it comes online by the end of 2028, it will be one of Europe's largest grid-scale batteries, connected to the 380-kilovolt transmission network of operator 50Hertz.
The project turns the plant's land and grid connection into a new role: storing renewable electricity to keep the German grid stable as wind and solar output grows. The 1976-era nuclear plant, shut down permanently since 2007, is being dismantled; the battery is part of a plan to keep the site productive as an energy hub.
Why it matters
If German grid operators are right that battery capacity needs to grow from roughly 11 GW today to over 80 GW by 2040, projects like this show the path from planning approvals to actual construction.
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People Involved
Organizations Involved
Swedish state-owned energy company with 150 MW of batteries in operation and 120 MW under construction.
German TSO operating the high-voltage grid in eastern Germany, including Schleswig-Holstein, which will host the Brunsbüttel battery connection.
Timeline
February 1976 December 2028
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Expected commercial operation
Upcoming MilestoneBattery to be connected to 50Hertz's 380 kV grid, targeted by end of 2028.
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Story published across energy trade media
Today CoverageEnergy-Storage.news, Power Technology, and Renewables Now report the decision.
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Vattenfall takes final investment decision
Investment DecisionCompany commits to 254 MW/1,000 MWh battery at Brunsbüttel, its largest battery project to date.
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City council approves battery plans
RegulatoryBrunsbüttel municipality grants planning approval for the storage project on the former plant site.
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Plant shut down permanently
EventBrunsbüttel taken offline; never restarted, even before Germany's post-Fukushima nuclear exit.
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Brunsbüttel nuclear plant goes online
MilestonePlant begins operating, eventually producing ~118 TWh over its lifetime.
Historical Context
2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
German nuclear phase-out completion (2011-2023)
Following the Fukushima disaster, Germany accelerated closure of its nuclear fleet, with the last three plants shutting in April 2023. Brunsbüttel had already been offline since 2007, leaving a decommissioning pipeline stretching decades.
Retired nuclear sites like Brunsbüttel needed new economic purposes as decommissioning proceeded.
Grid connections and cleared land from these plants became prime real estate for renewable and storage infrastructure.
Brunsbüttel is a concrete example of what nuclear phase-out infrastructure becomes: still energy-producing, just in a different form.
Elverlingsen hybrid battery (Germany, 2016-2023)
German utility RWE operated a large-scale lithium-ion battery at a former coal-fired power plant site in North Rhine-Westphalia, using the existing grid connection to provide frequency regulation.
The facility demonstrated that retired thermal plant sites with strong grid ties could host battery storage.
Paved the way for the current wave of repurposing fossil and nuclear sites across Germany.
Brunsbüttel follows the same playbook: take a decommissioned thermal asset with proven grid infrastructure and convert it for storage.
