United Kingdom – Under the terms of an Engineered Equipment Delivery (EEQ) agreement, Wärtsilä will provide Zenobe, a Scottish company that specializes in battery storage and electric car fleets, with a 200 MW/400 MWh energy storage system.

The project will facilitate the United Kingdom’s transition to a zero-carbon energy network by preparing the grid for an expanded supply of renewable energy, making it the first initiative in the world to deliver stability services using a transmission-connected battery. The energy storage system (ESS) will be one of the biggest in the UK.

The ESS is the first project to be completed under the NOA Stability Pathfinder programme of National Grid. The ESS, which is run by Zenobe, will support grid operators in managing difficulties with supply and demand balancing, power stability, and restrictions. This will guarantee that client cost expectations are satisfied as well as network demand. The project is perfectly situated to combine adjacent offshore wind energy projects in the North Sea with the UK’s electricity system because it is located in northeastern Scotland.

Combined technology

The National Grid Electricity System Operator will receive stability services from the battery system, including short-circuit level and real synthetic inertia, which are crucial for the grid’s continued operation as fossil fuel facilities shut down. The project pushes the technical limits of the kinds of grid support that batteries are capable of offering by combining Wärtsilä’s ESS with inverter technology.

GEMS Platform

Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform will control the ESS and use machine learning, historic, and real-time data analytics to optimize operations and ease network limitations by importing electricity during peak renewable generation. Zenobe will be able to remotely monitor, operate, identify, and troubleshoot equipment with unmatched safety, dependability, and flexibility by using the GEMS Fleet Direct and Power Plant Controller.

The building will incorporate GridSolv Quantum from Wärtsilä, a completely integrated, modular, and small energy storage system. By the summer of 2024, the project is anticipated to be operational.