Finnish power source manufacturer Wärtsilä has announced a partnership with Scottish energy supplier SSE to deliver a 50MW/100MWh energy storage system in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The system will be the first to be connected to SSE’s transmission network by the company’s new solar and battery division.
Wärtsilä hopes this will support access to clean, reliable energy across the UK. The system is expected to become operational in September 2023.
The project will use Wärtsilä’s GridSolv Quantum, a fully integrated modular energy storage system, in addition to the GEMS Digital Energy Platform, Wärtsilä’s energy management software.
This is the first grid-scale battery project developed by SSE.
Wärtsilä claims that the energy storage system will support the UK’s national grid, by using services like wholesale market trading to balance renewable energy generation throughout the day.
By supporting SSE to scale up its energy storage capabilities, Wärtsilä aims to enable more British energy consumers to access renewable energy and to lower carbon emissions.
Kenneth Engblom, vice president of Europe and Africa, Wärtsilä Energy, said: “The UK can capitalise on its massive potential for renewable energy by building more of it right now, but energy storage must not be overlooked – effectively balancing the intermittency of renewables is the missing part of the net zero puzzle.
“If properly deployed, energy storage will enable the grid to deal with fluctuations in renewable energy supply and ensure that the end users of energy have secured power supply as we switch to cheaper, cleaner energy.”
In October last year, Wärtsilä and EDF activated a 50MW/50MWh battery energy storage system in Kent and are installing similar systems across the UK on an ongoing basis.
