Swedish energy giant Vattenfall has confirmed plans to create Wales’ largest wind-plus-storage energy site at the 228MW Pen y Cymoedd wind farm.
Later this year the 76-turbine wind farm, the largest onshore wind farm in Wales, will take delivery of six battery units with a combined capacity of 22MW. The units will store power from the Pen y Cymoed turbines to help stabilise the electricity grid.
The service, known as Enhanced Frequency Response, is provided in response to power fluctuations on the grid: if the frequency drops power is pumped onto the grid, and if it gets too high the batteries can draw in excess power.
The service is one of the primary ways large battery projects can earn revenue.
Vattenfall said more battery projects like the Pen y Cymoedd initiative – dubbed ‘battery@pyc’ – will be needed to provide grid stability as the proportion of power delivered by variable renewable energy sources increases.
“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.”
The Pen y Cymoedd wind farm only reached full power earlier this month, and can generate enough electricity to power 13 per cent of Welsh households each year.
Source: businessgreen.com
