UK’s largest battery project gets planning go-ahead in Swindon
Wed 14 March 2018
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The town of Swindon is to host one of the UK’s largest power storage projects. Swindon Borough Council’s battery will have capacity of 50MWh, the largest possible for a local authority power project.
The Telegraph reported that Swindon Council claims the project design facilitates a 30-year lifespan thereby offering a long-term land rental income and deliver balancing services for National Grid.
In connecting large batteries to the grid, users can contribute to evening out the peaks and troughs of power demand by drawing from their own storage when prices climb. Public Power Solutions (PPS), a wholly-owned company of Swindon Borough Council, secured planning consent for the project, was now in discussions with developers seeking front of the meter battery storage opportunities to take on the funding and construction of the project.
Steve Cains, of Swindon Borough Council’s Public Power Solutions, said: “Local authorities are in a unique position to benefit from the growing demand for electricity storage, with diverse property portfolios and high energy consumption."
It is one of a number of small-scale projects across the country as battery technology costs drop and the government backing begins to take hold.
In related news, a report from German advisory group Team Consult says the country's power grid industry will expand big battery capacity to 323 megawatts (MW) in 2018, up from 178 MW last year and from 143 MW in 2016.
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