A joint venture of National Solar Centre, British Solar Renewables (BSR) and Western Power Distribution (WPD). The project seeks to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of connecting an energy storage facility at a solar farm to the mains grid. “Combining renewable energy and energy storage creates a compelling proposition of affordable, predictable, low-carbon energy, and we will be using the learning from this project to further develop our commercial offering,” said Steve Edwards,” BSR’s Technical and Strategy Director. “Helping us to demonstrate the new business models, which are rapidly emerging in the integration of storage and PV, will allow BSR’s customers and distribution network operators such as WPD to benefit from the outcomes.”
The battery will be built and supplied by RES and installed at a 1.5MW solar farm at Copley Wood near Butleigh, Somerset. The solar farm will be connected to WPD’s South West network. The project may be one of the first industrial-scale battery systems in the UK; but it won’t be the largest.