• Ongoing Projects
• Climate Action with Second-Life Batteries (2nd Life)

With the project Climate Action with Second-Life Batteries (2nd Life), the Borderstep Institute, together with Voltfang GmbH, supports the climate-friendly market ramp-up of stationary battery storage systems for commerce and industry. The project focuses on developing robust methods to assess the ecological and economic benefits of stationary battery storage systems. It also explores how these assessments can be used to support investment decisions.

Stationary battery storage systems can be used in commercial and industrial settings in a climate-friendly and profitable manner. Examples include:

• operational energy management,
• peak shaving,
• self-consumption optimization, and
• improved integration of renewable energy.

Making sustainability benefits visible and assessable

Although resource-efficient battery storage solutions offer significant potential for climate action and resource efficiency, there is still a lack of manufacturer-neutral, scientifically sound and practice-oriented assessment frameworks. For commercial and industrial customers, it is often difficult to understand which climate, resource and economic effects actually result from the use of such systems and how these compare with conventional battery systems or energy solutions.

Against this background, robust approaches for assessing the sustainability and impact of stationary battery storage systems are becoming increasingly important. The focus is on methodological questions relating to life cycle assessment, carbon footprinting, impact forecasting, and the allocation and attribution of sustainability effects along complex value chains.

Scientific foundations for sound investment decisions

As part of the project, the Borderstep Institute also examines the key barriers and success factors for the diffusion of climate-friendly stationary battery storage solutions, with a particular focus on second-life applications. To this end, application scenarios are developed, diffusion pathways are analyzed, and business model options for circular product-service systems are identified.

Decision-making knowledge for commerce and industry

Building on this, the project develops practice-oriented information for commercial and industrial customers, specialist planners, project developers, installation companies, energy consultants, associations, and other intermediary organizations. This includes:

• case profiles,
• infographics,
• information materials,
• webinars and
• dialogue formats.

The materials address key questions on the applications, economic viability, performance, service life, service models, and sustainability impacts of the systems. The aim is to reduce uncertainty and make viable business models visible. It also provides expert support for investment decisions in resource-efficient stationary battery storage systems.

Contribution to the circular economy

The project combines application-oriented sustainability assessment with knowledge transfer and market diffusion. It helps make resource-efficient storage solutions, such as second-life batteries, more assessable, understandable and compatible as building blocks of a resource-efficient energy system and circular economy.

Consortium and network partners use the project results during and after the funding period. This enables the broad dissemination of the developed assessment approaches, information materials, and dialogue formats.