Vattenfall, together with the Swedish company SaltX Technology, will test how renewable wind and solar power can be stored in salt, Vattenfall announced on Thursday.

According to the statement, the pilot at the Reuter thermal power plant in Spandau, Berlin, with a total storage capacity of 10 megawatt-hours (MWh), was officially commissioned on Thursday to test the technology for the first time on an industrial scale.

The patented technology, developed by Swedish SaltX Technology, is based on nano-coated salt. This technology enables this “salt battery” to be charged several thousand times, from which the energy generated can be stored for weeks or months without losses.

"The test operation at the plant in Berlin is planned to run until the end of the summer 2019. Thereafter, test data will be evaluated, and the results presented at the end of the year," the company stated.

The pilot plant is also part of a long-term rebuild of the Reuter power plant.

In 2019, Vattenfall will also started operating Europe's largest power-to-heat facility there - an energy store based on storage of hot water.

"During 2020, Vattenfall will take the Reuter C coal power plant out of service, which is a step in the plan to completely phase out all coal as a fuel in Vattenfall's heating operations in Berlin by 2030," according to the statement.

By Gulsen Cagatay

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr