First major energy storage facility in the UK: 200 MW Zenobē

Wärtsilä Technology Group will supply a 200 megawatt (MW) or 400 megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system to Zenobē, a specialist in electric vehicle fleets and battery storage, in Blackhillock, Scotland.

The project will be the first in the world to provide stabilization services using a grid-connected battery. It supports the United Kingdom (UK) transition to a carbon-neutral energy grid by preparing the grid to increase renewable energy supplies. The Energy Storage System (ESS) will be one of the largest in the UK.

Managed by Zenobē, ESS will support grid operators in addressing challenges related to supply and demand balancing, power stability and constraints. This ensures that network demand and customers’ cost expectations are met. Located in the North East of Scotland, the project is ideally suited to integrating nearby offshore wind projects in the North Sea into the UK electricity grid.

The battery system will provide the National Grid electric grid operator with stabilization services, including short-circuit levels and artificial inertia, which is necessary for the grid to operate efficiently after phasing out fossil-fuel power plants. The project combines Wärtsilä’s ESS with inverter technology, an innovative solution that pushes the technical boundaries of the support batteries can provide to the grid.

The GEMS Digital Energy Platform, Wärtsilä’s energy management system, controls the ESS and uses machine learning and historical and real data analysis to optimize operations while reducing grid constraints by importing electricity at times of peak renewable generation. This enables remote monitoring, identification and diagnostics of systems with unparalleled security, reliability and flexibility.

The facility will be equipped with Wärtsilä’s GridSolv Quantum system, an integrated, standardized and integrated energy storage system. The project is expected to start operating in the summer of 2024.