Monday 10 June 2019

Green light for giant battery at UK’s largest onshore wind farm

The Scottish Government has given the green light for plans to install a giant battery at the largest onshore wind farm in the UK.

The 539MW wind farm consists of 215 turbines that are capable of generating enough electricity for just under 300,000 homes at peak – or all the households in Glasgow.

Developer ScottishPower said the planned battery storage centre will be the size of half a football pitch, with a total capacity of 50MW, capable of achieving full charge in less than an hour.

That means it will be on standby to provide services like reactive and frequency response to National Grid, enhancing control and flexibility.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive at ScottishPower added: “This is a significant step forward in the road to baseload for renewable energy. We know that renewable energy generation needs to quadruple and we know that onshore wind is the cheapest form of green energy.

“By integrating storage technologies with onshore wind, we are blowing away one of the myths about renewable generation not being available when you need it. Natural resources like wind and solar are variable in their very nature and by using a battery we can ensure we optimise our ability to use the resource most effectively. This is another step forward by ScottishPower in investing clean, green and flexible generation to fully displace historic fossil fuel generation.”

Installation work is expected to start early next year, with the facility fully operational by the end of 2020.