Construction work is now underway at an electricity grid stability project in Wales following a groundbreaking ceremony which was attended by the country’s First Minister.
Eluned Morgan attended the ceremony at the Swansea Greener Grid Park, being developed by Statkraft which will support renewables integration.
The event was also attended by the Ambassador of Norway to the United Kingdom, Tore Hattrem.
The Greener Grid Park scheme will use six large rotating stabilisers to replicate the spinning turbines of a traditional power station.
This technology will help keep the lights on in Welsh homes during faults or disturbances on the grid without requiring traditional fossil-fired power plants to be switched on to maintain a stable frequency of electricity from the grid.
Once fully operational, the site will contribute to the delivery of the Welsh and UK Governments’ net zero and energy decarbonisation objectives, helping to make fossil fuels a thing of the past and bolstering the nation’s energy security.
The technology will also help deliver a stable, secure and cheaper power supply to households, businesses and Wales’ industrial sector
Statkraft was awarded the contract to provide stability services by the National Energy System Operator under phase three of its Stability Pathfinder Programme, in 2022.
NESO has said that the contracts will deliver £14.9bn of savings between 2025 and 2035.
The planning application, which received unanimous support from Swansea Council, was revised by Statkraft to include two further synchronous compensators allowing the site to deliver stability more effectively to the grid.
Morgan said: “Wales’ electricity needs could treble by 2050, so it’s important that infrastructure like Statkraft’s Greener Grid Park in Swansea is in place to support the grid and ensure it can cope with the increasing demand in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way.
“Schemes like this are important in ensuring we’re ready to continue the transition to more renewable energy, delivering on one of my priorities for green growth.”
Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said: “This is a huge milestone as work begins on the clean power grid stability scheme in Wales – a prime example of how Great Britain continues to back clean energy technology to unlock investment and power our homes and businesses and make our country a clean energy superpower.
“Together with the Welsh Government, we want to see more projects like this in Wales and across the UK – creating skilled local jobs and propelling us towards our net zero goals.”