The facility has the capacity to store up to 196MWh of electricity
FREMONT, CA: The largest battery energy storage system in Europe has formally started operating in Cottingham, UK…The system, which is the biggest in terms of megawatts per hour, attempts to store electricity produced by renewable sources, including wind turbines and solar farms, and then release it when there is a spike in demand from customers.
The so-called Pillswood project is powered by Tesla's Autobidder algorithmic trading technology and was created by North Yorkshire-based renewable energy company Harmony Energy Income Trust.
The facility can store up to 196 MWh of electricity in a single cycle, enough to power about 300,000 UK homes for two hours, the business claims. The plant has been put into operation four months early to help the National Grid in its mission to give UK homes reliable and secure power during the difficult winter months. According to the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE), the EU will need about 200 GW of energy storage by 2030 and 600 GW by 2050.
This is because energy storage systems are essential for enabling the integration of renewables and creating a safe, low-emission, and cost-effective energy system.
However, even though increasing the use of renewable energy sources is necessary to meet Europe's net zero goals, this cannot be done without the necessary storage infrastructure to accommodate the erratic nature of wind and solar energy. Renewable energy's reliance on weather conditions means that it won't be able to effectively reduce the use of fossil fuels, which will impede decarbonisation efforts until it is efficiently stored. Fortunately, it appears that Europe's situation is improving. Numerous battery storage systems are being developed or are now in use around the continent, but the Pillswood project is only the most recent (and likely the most spectacular).
Within the EU bodies, energy storage is also gaining pace.
Maro Efovi, vice-president of the European Commission, acknowledged that energy storage would help facilitate the integration of renewables and the electrification of the economy while increasing the flexibility and security of the energy system in a speech at the Energy Storage Global Conference 2022 (ESGC).
Europe must speed up the deployment of energy storage systems. And it appears that enhancing Europe's energy independence and strategic autonomy is more important than ever during the global energy crisis.
