Renewable Energy Systems pioneer battery-storage project to help Grid balance UK demand – Scottish Energy News

National Grid and Renewable Energy Systems (RES) are working together to
develop the first battery energy storage systems to provide a dynamic
frequency response service in nano-second timescales in Great Britain.

They have agreed a four-year contract that will see RES provide 20MW of
frequency response from battery storage in a move which could herald a
major shift in the way storage is seen on the UK network.

This is a new service which will aid National Grid in performing its system
balancing role, which increasingly requires innovation and the use of new
technologies.

The services delivered by RES battery storage systems will provide cost
effective frequency response to the grid within one second of the detection
of a frequency deviation. The battery storage systems will be fully
operational within 18 months.

RES and National Grid have been working together on this project since
2014. It has been a forerunner to National Grid’s forthcoming tender for
200MW of Enhanced Frequency Response.

As the price of battery energy storage has fallen in line with gigawatt
scale deployment in the stationary energy storage and in battery-powered
vehicles (BPVs), such services are now reducing electricity costs for
consumers across global markets. RES has already commissioned six similar
projects in North America.

RES is already in the construction phase of its first UK energy storage
project – a battery system integrated with solar PV in Somerset for Western
Power Distribution.

Adam Sims, Senior Account Manager, National Grid said: “This is the first
time that battery storage will be used to provide such fast-acting
frequency response service to the National Transmission Network in Great
Britain.

“This will enable us to respond to frequency issues in under a second,
helping to maintain the integrity of the grid. This service and the
forthcoming Enhanced Frequency Response service will support the network as
we transition to a generation mix with greater levels of low cost renewable
energy.”

John Prendergast, RES Energy Storage Manager, said: “Energy storage can
play a large role in supporting the UK’s transition to a secure, low
carbon, low cost energy system.

“We believe that this contract will play an important role in demonstrating
this and will encourage policy makers and regulators to accelerate the
removal of barriers to wider deployment of energy storage in the UK.”