TagEnergy, in partnership with Tesla, has officially begun construction on France’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) in Cernay-lès-Reims, located in the department of Marne .
The €250 million (C$371M/US$264M) 240MW/480MWh BESS project is a milestone for France, boasting a capacity nearly five times greater than the country’s largest operational system. Once completed in late 2025, the battery system will store enough electricity to cover 20% of the residential needs in the Marne department, home to approximately 565,000 residents.
The system is connected to the 225kV national grid managed by Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), enabling it to optimize renewable energy distribution and provide critical capacity during peak demand periods. Moreover, the project is poised to capitalize on France’s Secondary Reserve (aFRR) market, which creates additional revenue opportunities for flexible energy storage solutions.
Tesla will not only be supplying the Megapacks to be used in the BESS, but it will also manage the battery’s integration into the French electricity market through its advanced Autobidder platform.
“TagEnergy is proud to announce this flagship project in France, just weeks after connecting the first phase of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest wind farm in Australia and the UK’s largest transmission-connected battery”, said Franck Woitiez, CEO of TagEnergy in a press release.
This project aligns with France’s Multi-Annual Energy Plan, which calls for a 2.5-fold increase in wind energy capacity and a 4-fold increase in solar capacity by 2035. Alongside this project, TagEnergy has been developing storage and renewable energy solutions worldwide, including the UK’s largest transmission-connected battery and Australia’s southern hemisphere-leading wind farm.
