Energy storage developments |


Left: Wärtsilä energy storage technology across Pivot Power’s “Superhub” sites in the UK will support the integration of renewables into the grid. © Wärtsilä Corporation


all electricity production will need to be zero carbon by that date. The Energy Superhub projects aim to help enhance the reliability of the UK’s electricity system and enable cost-effective integration of more renewable generation.


The Energy Superhub network could provide up to 10% of the storage capacity the UK is predicted to need by 2050 and will help to create a smarter, more flexible grid, which could save up to GBP 40 billion.


power to key locations across the city, and will be directly connected to National Grid’s high- voltage electricity transmission network (at the Cowley substation on the outskirts of Oxford). The government-backed ESO project, led by Pivot Power, aims to integrate energy storage, EV charging, low carbon heating and smart energy management technologies to decarbonise Oxford by 2040 and create a blueprint for other UK towns and cities to achieve net zero.


June 2021 saw activation by Pivot Power, Wärtsilä, and Habitat Energy (battery storage optimisation specialists) of the 50 MW lithium- ion battery storage system that forms part of ESO. It is described as “the UK’s first grid-scale battery storage system directly connected to the transmission-network.” The ESO lithium-ion battery system is the first to go live as part of Pivot Power’s plans to deploy up to 40 similar installations throughout the UK.


It is the first part of the ESO hybrid battery,


Right: Pivot Power, Wärtsilä and Habitat Energy in June 2021 activated a 50 MW grid-scale battery storage system directly connected to the UK transmission-network. © Pivot Power


SSE acquires 50 MW of battery storage


SSE has purchased the project development rights for its first 50 MW battery storage asset, on a consented site in Wiltshire, UK, from Harmony Energy Limited.


SSE plans to bring the project to financial close and construct the battery storage facility over the next 18 months. The project will help deliver essential balancing services to the energy system, the company says, noting that its distributed energy division “has a team of


developers, engineers, and energy service professionals actively growing its battery storage pipeline.”


Harmony Energy Limited is a developer of utility-scale battery energy storage projects. It has developed two projects in the UK, with a pipeline of over 600 MW of project rights. Richard Cave-Bigley, SSE’s sector director for distributed generation & storage, said: “Our distributed energy division has ambitions


30 | September 2021 | www.modernpowersystems.com


to build a significant portfolio of batteries – we’re looking at around 500 MW of early stage opportunities – and we hope [this] announcement signals the seriousness of our intent in this market.”


Peter Kavanagh, CEO of Harmony Energy, said: “The site has been four years development work in the making, demonstrating our expertise in bringing forward complex battery storage developments to construction-ready stage.”


thought to be the world’s largest combining lithium-ion and vanadium redox flow, which is due to be fully operational later this year. Wärtsilä describes energy storage as crucial to meet the UK government’s new 2035 target to reduce emissions by 78%. To achieve this,


The UK is an “optimal market opportunity for energy storage”, says Wärtsilä, whose own research has found that income received by energy storage providers in the UK was up by 21% during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020. The variable market conditions during the lockdown presented an example of what the UK’s energy system could look like as more renewable energy is adopted and supported by energy storage. These findings were “uncovered by Wärtsilä Energy Transition Lab data from 24 March – 23 April 2020”, the company says.


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