Equinor said Jan. 22 it has started operations at the 25-megawatt (MW) Blandford Road commercial battery storage asset in the U.K., marking a company first.
Located in southwestern England’s Dorset, Blandford Road features approximately 150 lithium-ion battery units. Combined, the units are capable of storing enough electricity to power about 75,000 U.K. homes for two hours, Equinor said in a news release. Blandford Road is connected to the Southern Electric Power Distribution Network.
“Equinor envisages a renewables portfolio that combines generation assets such as wind and solar with flexible assets such as batteries to help mitigate the intermittency of the renewable power generation,” Olav Kolbeinstveit, senior vice president for onshore and markets for renewables at Equinor, said in the release.
With a large position in the U.K.’s offshore wind sector, the company is building its battery storage capacity, Kolbeinstveit added. Equinor’s second battery storage asset, the 35-MW Welkin Mill, is under construction in England’s Greater Manchester area. The asset is expected to start operations later this year.
Battery storage company Noriker Power, in which Equinor has a 45% equity stake, is the developer for both Blandford Road and Welkin Mill. The company will operate Blandford Road.
Development of the battery storage assets comes as the U.K. aims for 95% of its electricity to be low carbon by 2030. Battery storage systems, which store excess power generated from renewables such as solar and wind, are seen as crucial for the transition.
Recommended Reading
E&P Highlights: March 4, 2024
2024-03-04 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including a reserves update and new contract awards.
E&P Highlights: April 22, 2024
2024-04-22 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including a standardization MoU and new contract awards.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Offshore Africa
2024-04-02 - Offshore Africa, new projects are progressing, with a number of high-reserve offshore developments being planned in countries not typically known for deepwater activity, such as Phase 2 of the Baleine project on the Ivory Coast.
E&P Highlights: May 13, 2024
2024-05-13 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, with a couple fields coming online, as well as new contract awards.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Offshore Australasia, Surrounding Areas
2024-04-09 - Projects in Australia and Asia are progressing in part two of Hart Energy's 2024 Deepwater Roundup. Deepwater projects in Vietnam and Australia look to yield high reserves, while a project offshore Malaysia looks to will be developed by an solar panel powered FPSO.