Wind Farm Battery Energy Storage Partnership ‘Powers’ Journey to Net Zero

ABB has announced a new grid scale battery project in partnership with Ecotricity. The collaboration, ABB Electrification, will help pave the way for the National Grid’s journey to Net Zero by 2050.

ABB’s grid scale Battery Energy Storage Solution (BESS), which will be installed at Ecotricity’s existing 6.9MW wind farm in Gloucestershire in 2023, will not only provide a material addition to the company’s renewable energy offering, but will also highlight the potential of short-term fast response technologies like BESS to add additional stability to the UK’s National Grid, a crucial hurdle as it moves towards Net Zero.

The project, a 10MW/20MWh Li-Ion energy storage system will be co-located alongside Ecotricity’s wind farm in Alveston, Gloucestershire, which was constructed in 2017. The lithium-ion batteries will be supplied by KORE Power and the BESS will be controlled by ABB’s eStorage OS energy management system. 

The installation of ABB’s eStorage MAX scalable BESS will help the company to manage its exposure to high spot-trading energy costs, as well as offering flexibility response to the National Grid as it transitions to Net Zero. The BESS will be integrated with Ecotricity’s Smart Grid platform and will use the company’s proprietary optimization model to despatch the battery energy storage according to system needs.

Mark Meyrick, Head of Smart Grids, Ecotricity, said: “We’ve been working towards our first grid scale battery as we’ve been developing our Smart Grid platform – and we’re looking forward to taking this next step with ABB.  This project is a first for us and will enable us to manage demand for renewable energy, as well as develop a greater understanding of the deployment of storage for flexibility requirements.”

“As the UK continues its journey to net zero, ABB is excited to partner with Ecotricity on this 10 MW grid scale battery project, which will help to stabilize the grid. BESS is key to unlocking some of the challenges ahead, providing a highly effective way to capture clean energy and balance energy generation against demand to build grid resilience,” said Calogero Saeli, Global Product Group Manager, ABB Electrification Distribution Solutions.

More information on the project can be found here.