Tractebel supports the full commissioning of Vilvoorde battery park in Belgium

ENGIE officially inaugurated the entire 200 MW/800 MWh capacity battery park in Vilvoorde, Belgium. Tractebel is the Owner’s Engineer on this landmark sustainable project.

Picture: ©ENGIE

This project enhances the integration of renewable energy sources into Belgium’s energy system, and reinforces its resilience. The system’s total electricity storage capacity amounts to 800 megawatt hours, which corresponds to the average daily consumption of approximately 96,000 Belgian households. At maximum load, the batteries can absorb 200 megawatts of power for 4 hours, and then feed the stored energy back into the grid for 4 hours later in the day, providing a portion of the flexibility that the electricity grid needs for maintaining the balance between supply and demand at all times.

The seamless realization of this project is the result of the combined expertise and strong collaboration between ENGIE, Tractebel, Laborelec, and our partners.

Pictures: construction site (©ENGIE)

Owner Engineer’s role

Tractebel’s experts, who began their mandate in 2023, were responsible for design review, site supervision, quality assurance and grid connection study. Tractebel’s Renewable & Batteries teams, together with partner Laborolec, acted as Owner’s Engineer for client ENGIE Flexible Generation to carry out the following support activities throughout the implementation of the project:

• Review of design documentation as per ENGIE’s requests and defined at the start of the project: BESS, grid connection, connection to transmission substation, civil works, layout, electrical, instrumentation and control, and mechanical Balance of Plant (supporting components and auxiliary systems)
• Organization of the document management system
• Site supervision and activities
• Quality assurance (factory acceptance tests)
• Health and safety support during design review
• Grid connection study showing compliance of the plant to the grid code

A flexibility hub for Belgium’s energy transition

The battery park’s construction officially began on 5 July 2024. Just 14 months later, in September 2025, ENGIE commissioned the first half of the park (100 MW). Two months later, in November 2025, the second 100 MW tranche followed, two months ahead of the initial schedule. Thanks to this rapid commissioning, the battery park was able to contribute fully to grid stability during the past winter weeks and to optimise the use of available wind and solar energy.

The Vilvoorde site includes a 264 MW gas-fired power plant – built in 2000 and recently undergoing a major overhaul and the 200 MW battery park capable of adapting efficiently and quickly to the availability of renewable energies and the needs of the Belgian electricity grid.

The Vilvoorde BESS is part of a broader development of battery capabilities for ENGIE in Belgium, which also includes large-scale storage facilities in Kallo (100 MW) and Drogenbos (80 MW), where Tractebel is also providing technical support.