Battery energy storage arrives at UK offshore wind farm

Electricity storage is starting to get everywhere. From its established location alongside solar power collectors, energy storage is now beginning to appear at offshore wind farms. ABB has won an order from DONG Energy to deliver a 2 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) to support the integration and transmission of power from the 90 MW Burbo Bank offshore windfarm near Liverpool.

The wind farm has been in operation since 2007, but this will be the first time an offshore windfarm integrates such a storage system to stabilise the frequency of the UK electricity grid, says ABB. 

The UK’s national electricity grid operates at a frequency of 50 Hz to ensure grid stability and quality of power supplies; however grid frequency depends on the balance between power supply and load demand. Integration of large amounts of variable wind energy increases complexity and can result in frequency variations. So, says ABB, electricity storage such as the BESS solution here will help to stabilise grid frequency and support the wind farm to supply reliable power.

‘The need for grid flexibility continues to grow and, as a leader in providing low carbon energy, we are keen to be part of the solution to make the energy system smarter and to help National Grid to manage grid stability,’ said Ole Kjems Sørensen, a Senior Vice President at wind developer DONG Energy.

Meanwhile, the Global Marine Group (GMG) has been awarded a contract from E.ON to install a fibre optic cable at the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, currently under construction 13 km off the coast of Sussex. The cable will run from the shore to an offshore substation, providing a communications link for this major, 400 MW wind farm. GMG subsidiary CWind will execute the contract. The installation will centre on a 96-fibre armoured cable supplied from Hexatronic, installed using the proven ‘Hi-Plough’ device to ensure appropriate cable protection in the hard chalk seabed.

Due to be completed and operational in 2018, the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm will generate 400 MW of power, equivalent to the electricity used by around half the homes in Sussex.

•       Also offshore, two tidal turbines in the Pentland Firth in Scotland have set a world record for monthly production from a tidal stream power station. The MeyGen scheme, in the Inner Sound of the firth off the Caithness coast, produced 700 MWh of electricity in August. ‘The tides that flow through the Pentland Firth are some of the most powerful anywhere on earth and harnessing them has meant using machines and skills which have never before been tested on a commercial scale,’ said Hannah Smith, Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables: ‘This latest record is just one in a long line for the MeyGen project, which is leading the world in tidal energy deployment.'