Statkraft has been granted planning permission to construct the Greener Grid Park on land adjacent to the Coylton substation in the UK, which will store energy in 50MW batteries.
The project aims to increase the stability of the electricity grid and allow more renewable power to be transmitted through the network.
Stability is provided by battery technology, with grid forming converters attached, which always stay in ‘grid-forming’ mode, meaning they inherently resist changes in voltage and frequency on the electricity grid.
Meanwhile, the batteries will store, import, and export energy which will facilitate the decarbonisation of the UK’s electricity supply.
Construction of the project is expected to begin later in 2024.
Statkraft original submitted a minor planning application for Coylton Greener Grid Park in 2021, and received consent from East Ayrshire Council in August 2022, with the application receiving no objections.
At the time of submission, National Grid ESO had not confirmed their exact requirements for the project. Once these were confirmed, Statkraft then revised its plans and submitted this subsequent major planning application to reflect this.
Sarah Tullie, Statkraft’s Project Manager for Coylton Greener Grid Park said: “I want to thank East Ayrshire Council for backing our project. Greener Grid Parks are a key tool in helping the UK transition to green energy. Projects like them mean we’ll eventually end the need to turn on polluting fossil fuel power stations, just to provide stability to the electricity grid.
“Having a stable grid because of projects like this will allow more wind and solar energy to be built and connected, meaning lower bills for consumers because renewable power is cheaper. Statkraft will continue to play a key role in delivering innovative solutions like this and help to break our reliance on fossil fuels for good.”