Statkraft has begun construction of its £100 million Necton Greener Grid Park in Norfolk, the company’s largest grid stability scheme to date.
The project will use synchronous compensators to replicate the spinning turbines of a traditional power station, helping to stabilise the grid during faults or disturbances without the need to run fossil-fuel plants.
Once operational, Necton will deliver around 3% of the total inertia required for Great Britain’s electricity system, equivalent to an 800MW gas-fired power station or approximately 4 GW.s of inertia. It will also reduce emissions by the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars off the road.
The scheme is Statkraft’s largest synchronous compensator installation-over four times the size of its next biggest-and marks the company’s fourth Greener Grid Park following operational sites at Keith and Lister Drive and another under construction in Swansea.
NESO awarded the project a stability services contract in 2022 under phase three of its Stability Pathfinder Programme, identifying Norfolk as a priority area for grid reinforcement. The programme is expected to deliver £14.9 billion in savings between 2025 and 2035.
Construction at Necton is expected to take around two years.
Statkraft UK managing director Kevin O’Donovan said: “I’m proud that Statkraft is making a significant investment into Great Britain’s energy transition, with a commitment to build our latest innovative grid stability scheme, which will be our largest to date.
“When operational, Necton Greener Grid Park will increase the deployment of renewable energy to the grid, bringing down bills for consumers and businesses, and reducing carbon emissions for us all.”