Vattenfall has started detailed planning for the construction of a 22 MW energy storage system in the UK.
The battery-based system, known as battery@pyc, will be the largest co-located battery and wind farm project in the UK and will also be Vattenfall’s largest battery project to date. It will be installed at the 228 MW Pen y Cymoedd wind energy project in Wales.
Construction of the battery project – which will comprise six shipping container-sized units – will start in the summer 2017, Vattenfall said. Once operational, it will provide enhanced frequency response services to the UK’s National Grid.
“Vattenfall will provide a really important service to the British consumer,” said Frank Elsworth, Vattenfall’s project manager for battery@pyc. Battery@pyc can respond to power fluctuations on the grid within a second – by pumping in power if frequency drops, or drawing in, if too high.
“This is Vattenfall’s biggest battery project to date and we think it is part of a smart transition to a fossil free Britain and Europe,” said Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s head of business area wind. “We have ambitions for more batteries at our wind farm sites across Europe and so I hope that battery@pyc will herald more storage facilities in the UK.”
Construction of the battery project is set to be completed by the end of 2017 and operations will start in February 2018.
