‘Largest battery in Europe’ comes online in UK with grid stability services

Zenobē, a UK owner and operator of batteries on the GB transmission network, has begun commercial operations of their battery site in Blackhillock, Scotland, which they call the largest in Europe, complete with grid stability services.

The Blackhillock site is launching in two phases. This first phase comprises 200MW live. This will be followed by a further 100MW in 2026, making a total of 300MW/600MWh.

The total capacity of the site is the equivalent of powering over 3.1 million homes, substantially more than all the households in Scotland, for two hours.

Deliberately located between Inverness and Aberdeen to address grid congestion from Viking (443MW), Moray East (950MW) and Beatrice (588MW) offshore wind farms, the project hopes to significantly reduces the amount of wasted clean energy.

According to Zenobē in a release, the Blackhillock site will also be the first in the world to provide stability services to the National Energy System Operator (NESO). Whereas fossil fuelled plants deliver short circuit level, reactive power, and inertia for the grid as a by-product of their normal operations, renewable sources don’t. Hence the battery project, which provides such services for grid stability.

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Zenobē founder director James Basden commented: “Today marks a critical juncture in Britain’s clean power journey as Zenobē adds over 30% to the capacity of operational battery storage in Scotland. Battery storage has an essential role to play in our transition to renewable energy, so I’m proud that Zenobē and our partners are leading the way by launching Europe’s largest and most technically advanced battery.

“This project has additional importance, with the Blackhillock site being the first transmission connected battery in the world to deliver stability services alongside several other crucial services. As the UK steps up the pace on a transition to renewable power, these services are vital if we are to ensure the reliability and affordability of our grid moving forwards.”

Wärtsilä is supplying its Quantum energy storage system technology and GEMS Digital Energy Platform with SMA grid forming inverters enabling a resilient power system with high power quality. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) delivered the grid connection required for the site to harness the renewable energy on its transmission network.

EDF Wholesale Market Services will be the route to market provider for the site, through its trading platform, Powershift. This platform combined with Zenobē’s battery optimisation experts will build more flexibility into the grid, essential to reducing wind curtailment and accelerating the decarbonisation of the network.

Additionally, Kraken Technologies’ platform will be used to support EDF’s energy trading by managing the control and dispatch of energy. Advanced machine learning enables it to maximise the use of solar and wind energy, and Kraken will also provide alerting and data services for battery sites.

According to Kraken in a release, the project marks an important milestone, with the company now managing 50% of the UK’s grid-scale batteries, with a further 4.2GW contracted.

UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “We are wasting no time in delivering clean power by 2030, with the Blackhillock battery site marking the latest milestone in delivering our mission to become a clean energy superpower.

“With every wind turbine put up, solar panel installed, and battery facility constructed, we are protecting families from future energy shocks.”

According to Zenobē, through its tech, Blackhillock will enhance the reliability of the UK’s renewable power system, reducing bills and saving consumers £172 million ($218.7 million) over the next 15 years.

The figure reflects savings of £8 million ($10.2 million) from the Stability Pathfinder contract, assuming that the contract secured for the project will avoid the use of combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) to provide inertia and short circuit level (SCL).

It also reflects savings of £164 million ($208.6 million) from providing balancing services and constraint management to the grid and helping reduce price volatility. This is under the assumption that, with degradation over the lifetime considered, the battery cycles twice a day and provides a reasonable level of savings to the control room when compared to the alternative actions that would otherwise been taken. For example, curtailing wind generation during periods of network constraint or more competitively priced offer actions than gas peakers or CCGTS.

Added Shanks: “Battery sites like this are helping store our clean, surplus energy to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels – which will protect households and boost our energy security for good.”

To support the construction of phase one of the Blackhillock project, Zenobē secured £101 million ($128.4 million) debt financing via a long-term debt facility from a club of five banks.

The debt structure includes an accordion facility to debt finance to 100MW, second phase of the project.