Flywheel technology to join new UK electricity storage projects

Three new energy storage projects that collectively highlight the innovation going into storing electricity in the UK have been announced.

First, Europe’s largest and the UK’s first battery flywheel energy storage system is to be connected first to the Irish and then to the UK electricity grid as part of a project involving the University of Sheffield and the Dublin-based Schwungrad Energie. The €4mn EU-supported project will develop an innovative flywheel and battery hybrid energy storage system aimed at stabilising pressures on grid infrastructures.

Flywheels work by accelerating a rotor to high speeds using electrical energy, effectively storing the energy within the system as rotational energy, to be converted back to electricity when required.

In the first stage of the project, the flywheel facility will be installed in Ireland by Schwungrad at its hybrid flywheel battery facility, which has already seen a successful demonstration project with EirGrid. The flywheel system will be capable of a peak power of 500 kW and able to store 10 kWh of energy.

The system will then be installed at the University of Sheffield’s battery facility at Willenhall near Wolverhampton. The grid-connected research facility is one of the largest and fastest battery storage systems in the UK. The flywheels will be upgraded to provide 1 MW of peak power and 20 kWh of energy storage, and will be used as a hybrid energy storage system with the batteries.

The new project also involves Adaptive Balancing Power, which will provide the flywheel technology, and Germany’s Freqcon, which will design and build scalable multi-source power converters to connect the flywheels to the grid.

The University of Sheffield is home to the Centre for Research into Electrical Energy Storage & Applications (CREESA). Dr Dan Gladwin from the university said: ‘The UK national grid is becoming increasingly volatile due to the rising share of intermittent renewable energy sources. This manifests itself in deviations from the nominal 50 Hz frequency as demand outweighs supply or vice versa. Battery and flywheel technologies can offer a rapid response, and can export and import energy enabling this technology to respond to periods of both under and over frequency.’

Meanwhile, DONG Energy has announced plans to add a 2 MW battery storage system to its 90 MW Burbo Bank offshore wind farm in order to offer a frequency a response service to the grid as well as electricity. The 2 MW battery, the first at an offshore wind farm, will be supplied by ABB and installed by the end of the year.

National Grid uses frequency response as a mechanism to help manage grid stability and the ability to inject or reduce bursts of active power allows the grid to rapidly respond to changes in frequency. Richard Smith, Head of Network Capability (electricity) for National Grid said: ‘I’m looking forward to seeing how the DONG Energy solution of storage connected to the offshore wind farm will provide services to help us respond to day-to-day operational challenges and maintain the frequency of 50 Hz on Great Britain’s electricity system.’

Last, electricity distribution system operator for the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, Northern Powergrid, and electric vehicle manufacturer Nissan have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to explore a range of innovation projects – including how electric vehicles, batteries and other technologies can support energy networks.

They will explore how new technologies can enhance the capacity, capability and resilience of the region’s power network to make it more active and responsive to the growing and changing demands of customers. The partnership also represents a step forward for Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility blueprint in Europe, which aims to demonstrate how electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF can work in tandem with energy providers and grid infrastructure to deliver cleaner, more efficient energy networks.

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, for example, allows electric vehicles to be integrated into the electricity grid, improving network capacity and helping to make renewable energy sources more widely available, says Nissan. It also provides an opportunity to create mobile energy hubs, by integrating large numbers of electric vehicles directly with the grid. This enables Nissan LEAF owners to connect and charge their vehicle during low-demand, cheap tariff periods, and use the electricity stored in the vehicle’s battery at a time when costs are higher, or even feed it back to the grid to generate additional returns.