Zenobē kicks off first commercial-scale grid stability battery projects in Scotland

Zenobē has begun construction on battery storage projects in Scotland, touted as the first commercial contracts in the world for grid stability services through transmission connected batteries.

Totalling 1GW across three projects, each are contracted to provide stability services to National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) to improve the reliability of the UK’s increasingly renewable power system.

The EV fleet and battery storage specialist’s batteries will provide short-circuit level and inertia, which will be essential for the grid to function efficiently as fossil fuel plants phase out.

The batteries will also ease network constraints by importing electricity at times of peak renewable generation.

The contracts total £750 million ($891.3 million) in Scotland at Blackhillock, Kilmarnock South and Eccles. The storage capacity per project is as follows:

• Blackhillock project is 300MW/600MWh, with Phase 1 (200MW/400MWh) due to go live in H1 2024.
• Kilmarnock South is 300MW/600MWh, with Phase 1 (200MW/400MWh) due to go live in H2 2024.
• Eccles is 400MW/800MWh and due to go live in H1 2026.

This brings its total portfolio in Scotland to 1050MW/2100MWh and equates to more than the total MWh of all grid connected batteries operating in the UK today.  

Short-circuit level and inertia

According to the company, these are the first commercial contracts in the world to use transmission connected batteries to provide short-circuit level and inertia. Zenobē will provide 4.4GVAs of inertia, equivalent to approximately 5-10% of Britain’s requirement.

Short circuit level maintains system voltage during a fault. Inertia, which is derived from the kinetic energy stored in rotating turbines, prevents sudden changes in system frequency. These key grid services are usually delivered by fossil fuel powered plants.

Renewable power sources do not provide these services, so to decarbonise successfully, it is necessary to find alternative, reliable sources of grid stability – not only in the UK but globally.

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James Basden, co-founder and director of Zenobē, said: “Zenobē is transforming the uptake of clean power, enabling the UK to become both more independent and greener in how it generates electricity. These projects are using the latest technological innovation to make renewable energy more reliable and affordable at a national scale. This is the future for how utility-scale battery projects will work on every grid.

“Our projects at Blackhillock, Kilmarnock South and Eccles are world-firsts for battery storage, addressing a key, complex hurdle to the uptake of renewables in an innovative way and pushing forward our progress to energy independence and a zero carbon grid.“

Julian Leslie, head of networks at National Grid ESO, added: “NGESO is working hard to enable the UK to have a carbon free power network. Working with the industry we have developed contracts that accelerate the rapid uptake of renewable power. These contracts are part of the solution that will enable NGESO to have the ability to operate a zero carbon system in 2025.

“Investment into the use of new technologies by innovative companies like Zenobē is bringing this ambition nearer. The investment into these three major projects represents a turning point in how major grid scale battery storage can support the grid as fossil fuel generation is phased out.”

Today Scotland uses 96% carbon free generation and the rapid rollout of wind power means that the transmission network is becoming more congested, leading to the expensive shutdown of wind farms.

The locations for these projects were specifically chosen to reduce this curtailment, allowing more power onto the grid, lowering bills for consumers and increasing the UK’s energy independence.

This follows the 50MW/100MWh battery project at Wishaw which is the first to win a constraint management contract from National Grid ESO and will be the first in Scotland to connect directly to the Transmission network when it goes live in H1 2023. 

Over their 15 years of operation, the transmission connected batteries are forecast to save up to 13.4m tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, equivalent to taking 490,000 diesel or petrol cars off the road for 15 years. This is the equivalent of removing more than all the cars in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

These essential services are expected to contribute to lowering consumer bills by over £1 billion ($1.2 billion) by reducing the curtailment of windfarms over the same period.