A London-listed renewables specialist has said it is investing £20 million
in an energy storage plant that is being developed in West Lothian amid
some controversy.
The Renewables Infrastructure Group has acquired the 20 megawatt Broxburn
unit from Renewable Energy Systems, which won an appeal in March against
West Lothian councillors’ decision to refuse consent for it.
The Scottish Government’s planning appeals division judged the development
of the plant in a rural area would have no adverse impacts on nature
conservation or the local landscape. It said the development was modest in
scale. The facility will include six containers of lithium ion storage
batteries.
Backers believe plants such as Broxburn will play an important role in
supporting the development of renewable energy generating plants.
Helen Mahy, chairman of TRIG, noted: “The use of battery storage is
becoming increasingly important in enabling grid networks to match
fluctuations in the supply and demand of electricity and to stabilise power
frequency.”
She said Broxburn was one of the first large-scale commercial power storage
projects to be developed in the UK.
Investors in such plants expect to achieve steady returns over relatively
long periods.
Broxburn is expected to be operational for 15 years. Construction is
scheduled to be completed early next year.
TRIG said it will benefit from a bespoke bilateral contract with National
Grid to provide dynamic, two-way grid balancing services.
The investor’s 56-strong portfolio includes 12 wind farms in Scotland.
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