Britain's National Grid has started up a 100MW battery project in at its Richborough substation in the South of England. The plant was developed on a brownfield site previously occupied by a coal-fired power station. It is now connected and energized on the electricity transmission network following work by National Grid to plug the facility into its 400kVÂ substation in the county of Kent.
The battery project will boost the capacity and flexibility of the network, helping balance the system by soaking up surplus clean electricity and discharging it back when the grid needs it – with a capability to power 250,000 homes for an hour.
The battery will also provide grid stability services, for example helping to manage voltage and frequency imbalances as renewable generation dips up and down.
Richborough substation already hosts the connection for National Grid’s own 1GW Nemo Link interconnector with Belgium, while Thanet Offshore Wind Farm – the world’s biggest at the time of its launch – also connects into an adjacent substation on the wider Richborough Energy Park site.
Stuart Jones, Portfolio Director for the Customer Connection South Region at National Grid Electricity Transmission, said, “Battery storage has a crucial role to play in delivering a net zero energy system in Britain, so connecting projects like Pacific Green’s at Richborough Energy Park to our transmission network marks key progress on our country’s clean energy journey.”
The battery site embodies the energy transition from old to new, occupying land where a coal power station generated electricity from the early sixties through to 1996, and stood until its demolition in 2012.
National Grid is investing billions to innovate and evolve the transmission network in England and Wales to support Britain’s net zero goals, notably through The Great Grid Upgrade – the biggest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations.