EDF Renewables UK will commission more than 300MW of battery storage to support the decarbonisation of the UK electricity grid. The strong pipeline of battery storage projects represents an important milestone and continues to fuel the acceleration of the energy transition.
EDF Renewables UK has six projects under construction due to come online over the next 12 months, including a 57MW battery in Braintree, Essex, and a 47.5MW battery in Queens Saint Austell, India. A notable milestone was the recent commissioning of a 52MW battery in Sundon, Bedfordshire, which was completed in mid-July, and planning for a 47.5MW battery near Mannington in Dorset, approved by Dorset Council last week.
The battery storage system with a total capacity of 313 MW could provide enough electricity to cover the needs of over 400,000 households for two hours.
The new UK government has set an ambitious target that includes plans for a net-zero carbon electricity system by 2030 and requires a dramatic expansion of renewable energy capacity. Solar capacity is to be tripled to 50 GW, offshore wind is to be quadrupled to 55 GW and onshore wind is to be doubled to 35 GW by the end of the decade.
Battery storage provides the foundation for a reliable supply of clean electricity by storing excess renewable energy during peak production and releasing it when needed. It is predicted that between 20 and 30 GW of battery storage will be needed by 2030 to meet the 2050 net-zero pathways outlined by ESO2.
Simone Sullivan, Head of Storage at EDF Renewables UK, said: “Our upcoming pipeline of projects will strengthen the UK’s ability to integrate more renewable energy and will provide greater flexibility and resilience to the grid by managing electricity supply and demand.
“Battery storage is vital to improving our energy security and meeting the new government’s 2030 targets. We have strong momentum behind our projects and are helping the UK reap the benefits of low-cost, clean renewable energy and a modern, flexible grid.”
These projects complement EDF Renewables UK’s existing portfolio of more than 150MW of battery storage systems already operational in Oxfordshire, Kent and the West Midlands. In total, EDF Renewables UK plans to deploy up to 2GW of grid-connected battery storage, with more than 400MW approved and a further 313MW already under construction.
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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/energy-storage/21082024/edf-renewables-uk-set-to-bring-six-battery-projects-online-in-next-12-months/
