‘Milestone’ agreement paves way for battery energy storage systems in two Scottish locations
“Each project that we can now progress will greatly benefit the wider economy” – Neil Brooks, Root-Power
A battery energy storage operator has secured a “milestone” agreement to accelerate the development of two Scottish projects.
Root-Power said its agreement with National Grid would allow it to push forward with the renewable energy schemes in Glasgow and Dounreay over the next five years.
The projects will have a combined 84-megawatt (MW) capacity and should help safeguard the needs of thousands of business and residential energy users during peak demand. The firm said they would also help reduce price volatility and prevent blackouts.
A battery energy storage system (BESS) consists of several large batteries that store electrical power for use at a later time. They can be charged using excess electricity generated by wind or solar farms, for example, or by grid connection during periods of lower demand. However, many of these projects have attracted local criticism over their impact on the landscape and concerns regarding the risk of fire.
Several large-scale BESS projects have been given the nod in recent years. Such facilities generally provide sufficient power for relatively short periods of a few hours before requiring recharging.
Neil Brooks, managing director at Root-Power, part of the YLEM Group, said: “Securing these grid agreements is a game-changer for us as a business as we look to operate at scale and build a portfolio of BESS facilities that supplies over 1.7GW of power to communities by 2031. Without them, each of our sites in Glasgow and Dounreay simply cannot operate or go into construction, regardless of planning permission.
“Each project that we can now progress will greatly benefit the wider economy and help the UK to transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy system as part of the government’s CP2030 reforms over the next five years.”
He added: “We’re proud to be at the forefront of driving grid transformation that will modernise the electricity network and enable it to quickly connect and manage high volumes of low-carbon energy production, storage and demand.”
The grid offer notifications agreed will now enable Root-Power to build and connect 13 BESS storage facilities in the UK to the grid network.
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