Centrica Business Solutions has acquired a 30MW fully consented battery energy storage project in Scotland, UK, which will help manage North Sea offshore wind farms.
The two-hour duration (60MWh) battery storage plant in Dyce, near Aberdeen, was developed by Cragside Energy Limited and backed by Omni Partners LLP.
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It obtained planning consent in November 2021, and currently has a go-live date of mid-2024. Construction is expected to last eight months, and be aligned with its grid connection date.
As the offshore wind sector continues to grow in the UK – with research from trade association RenewableUK this week showing there is now a pipeline of 86GW of offshore wind projects, more than eight times the current operational capacity – there is an increasing need to manage network constraints.
National Grid paid £244 million (US$321.7 million) to wind farm operators to curtail generation in 2021, for example. Battery storage could help avoid such a cost, storing energy when the network is constrained and releasing it when generation is less abundant or demand higher.
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