An innovative energy storage system that is designed to help integrate renewable power generation into weak electrical networks and for general distribution grid support has been installed and commissioned in the UK.
Technology firm ABB has commissioned its first DynaPeaQ energy storage installation at a site in Norfolk, eastern England. It is planning to monitor the installation in order to determine whether it could be replicated around the UK’s coasts where wind farms are connected to the grid.
“DynaPeaQ is an innovative technology that advances the integration of renewable power generation, especially in weak electrical networks,” said Martin Gross, head of ABB’s Grid Systems business. “It can play a useful role in the development of more flexible, reliable and smarter grids.”
ABB recently launched DynaPeaQ as part of its family of FACTS (flexible alternating current transmission systems) solutions. It is a combination of SVC Light (static var compensator) technology with a highly scalable lithium-ion battery storage capability.
At the installation in Norfolk, renewable wind-generated energy from a local village will be fed into the power network. Some of this energy will be kept in reserve to support power supplies in the event of a fault, or to regulate the power flow to compensate for the intermittence of wind power.
This storage system is a pilot-scale installation that over a two year period will help to determine the technology’s value as a support device and whether or not grid support of this kind is scalable to MW sizes and beyond. It includes eight stacks of 13 lithium-ion battery modules housed in a 25 m2 building. The modules will be continually charged and discharged, and can store up to 200 kWh of electrical energy with a maximum output of 0.6 MW.