Equinor’s 25MW Blandford Road battery storage asset (pictured) in the UK has come into operation.
The project was developed and will be operated by the British battery storage company Noriker Power in which Equinor owns a 45% equity share.
The asset is located in Dorset and is connected to the Southern Electric Power Distribution network.
Comprising around 150 lithium-ion battery units, Blandford Road can store enough electricity to power 75,000 UK homes for two hours.
UK country manager at Equinor Alex Grant said: “This is a significant milestone for our ambition to deliver flexible power and maintain security of supply in the UK.
“A strong battery storage portfolio will further strengthen our position as a leading broad energy partner to the UK, building on our 40-year presence which includes being a stable supplier of oil and gas, developing the UK’s offshore wind industry, and pioneering solutions to decarbonise the UK economy.
Senior vice president for onshore and markets within renewables at Equinor Olav Kolbeinstveit added: “Equinor envisages a renewables portfolio that combines generation assets such as wind and solar with flexible assets such as batteries to help mitigate the intermittency of the renewable power generation.
“In the UK, we have our largest offshore wind power position as a company with several offshore wind farms in operation and under development.
“In parallel, we are building our battery storage capacity, with our first asset Blandford Road in operation and our second asset Welkin Mill under construction.”
The Welkin Mill battery storage project is developed by Noriker Power in the Greater Manchester area in England.
The new asset will have a capacity of 35MW and can store enough electricity to power over 100,000 UK homes for two hours.
It will connect to the distribution network operated by Electricity North West.
Welkin Mill is expected to be operational in 2024.
Equinor’s energy trading house Danske Commodities will provide market access, balancing and optimization services for the Blandford Road asset, building upon their 15 years of experience from the UK power markets.