Aberdeen, Scotland | – Norway based oil and gas company Statoil has launched 1MW storage system at its 30MW Hywind floating offshore wind farm located near the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
The pilot will be part of Hywind Scotland, an offshore wind park with five floating wind turbines located 25 km offshore Peterhead. Photo courtesy of Statoil
Statoil has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Scottish Government, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and Scottish Enterprise for the development of the storage solution called Batwind.
Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “The signing of this MoU will allow the signatories to work together in the development of the Batwind battery storage solution.
“This will help maximise the renewable generation of the Hywind offshore wind farm, whilst informing the case for energy storage and demonstrating the technology’s ability to support renewables in Scotland and internationally.”
“A recent industry and Government report, produced by the Carbon Trust, concluded that if the energy market was adapted to appropriately recognise the benefits of electricity storage to the wider system, this could lead to savings of up to £50 a year on an average energy bill and a system wide saving of up to £2.4bn a year by 2030.”
Statoil install a 1MWh lithium battery based storage pilot solution in later part of 2018 which will be equal to battery capacity of more than 2 million iPhones.
Implementation of the storage solution in pilot scale will provide technological and commercial foundation for the implementation of Batwind in full-scale offshore wind farms.
Hywind Scotland wind park is currently being built and start of electricity production is expected in late 2017.
The pilot storage project will be part of Hywind Scotland, located 25 km offshore Peterhead, featuring five floating wind turbines.
Statoil’s offshore wind senior vice president Stephen Bull said: “Statoil has a strong position in offshore wind.
“By developing innovative battery storage solutions, we can improve the value of wind energy for both Statoil and customers.
“With Batwind, we can optimise the energy system from wind park to grid. Battery storage represents a new application in our offshore wind portfolio, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in this area.”
Scottish Enterprise director of Energy and Clean Technology Maggie McGinlay said: “We’ve worked with Statoil for a number of years to deliver the Hywind project, so it’s fantastic to remain involved in this next stage of battery storage innovation.
“This is exactly the kind of innovation in the energy sector we’re keen to encourage and support as it may have potential to advance industry growth in Scotland.”
