Kona Energy have received planning permission to build a new 200MW BESS Installation (battery energy storage system) to alleviate grid constraints
The BESS installation will be located in Heysham, Lancashire, it will be one of the largest storage systems of its kind in Northwest England. Each year the UK wastes millions of £’s in energy oversupply. To prevent grid overload wind turbines and solar energy farms are switched off. This is because renewable energy generation is located too far away from populated areas. Planning restrictions and a ‘nimby‘ mentality are the main reasons for this.
The new BESS installation should save 45,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This is equivalent to removing 15,000 cars off the road every year. It will form part of a wider 1.0GW system being developed by Kona Energy. The BESS is strategically located to participate in multiple energy markets. It will be located at the HVDC converter station. This is where the underwater power cables arrive onshore from six Irish Sea offshore wind farms, including the world’s largest, Walney Wind Farm.
The project is connecting on the B7a constraint boundary. Kona Energy founder Andy Willis says;
This is one of the most constrained areas in the UK where wind farms and other low carbon technologies are regularly curtailed. As these constraint costs rise, projects like this are essential to relieving network congestion and reducing unnecessary waste.
As well as alleviating grid constraints the project will reduce energy bills and increase renewable energy usage, according to Kona Energy.
Location, location, location
The most powerful wind farms are all situated far away from busy centres like London or Manchester. The UK is forced to turn them off during times of high supply to prevent an overload of the National Grid. This is shameful and ridiculous, a result of shambolic government energy strategies over the past decade and half.
A statement from Kona said:
Aside from managing increasing grid constraints, the battery system will provide crucial local grid services, in the form of inertia and reactive power support. This will be increasingly important following the closure of the Heysham nuclear power stations in 2024 and 2028.
Andy Willis went on to say:
Roughly one billion pounds was spent in the last year curtailing energy from wind farms and other generators, replacing that need elsewhere – usually from fossil-fuelled stations. Tackling this enormous waste of both money and energy is crucial. Further battery storage facilities will significantly reduce this burden and we are proud to be leading the way with the approval of such a critical project.
A trial run by National Grid ESO and UK Power Networks found savings of up to £100 million could be made with the introduction of a national reactive power market, with solar, battery storage and wind all providing reactive power services during the trial.
Preserving the natural world
As part of the project’s development, Kona is to provide a financial contribution to a local nature reserve to improve biodiversity and habitat protection in the area, as well as a separate financial contribution to a local community fund.
Similar BESS Installation projects
Other large-scale BESS projects in the UK include Amp Energy’s two 400MW / 800MWh BESS in Scotland, which received planning consent in January and a 360MW Sembcorp Energy UK BESS, which will be built in Teeside.
Zenobe Energy claimed its 100MW / 107MWh Capenhurst BESS as Europe’s largest grid-connected battery in 2021. Elsewhere, the 100MW Minety site consisting of three 50MW battery systems developed by Penso Power and funded by China Huaneng Group and CNIC Corporation came online 2020 and at the time claimed to be the worlds largest. Its exciting to see such a rapid increase in capacity over a short period of time.
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Further reading:
https://www.jpsil.co.uk/blog/bess-installation-approved/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-57847700
https://www.jpsil.co.uk/blog/bess-in-scotland/