Equinor has approved the final investment decision on its Blandford Road battery storage project in the south of the UK.
This marks the first commercial battery storage asset for Equinor, and the first project realised from a strategic partnership between Equinor and Noriker Power.
The Blandford Road project is a 25MW/50MWh battery storage asset located in Dorset in southern England.
The project will incorporate CATL lithium-ion battery racks and connect to the SSE distribution network providing capability to manage power intermittency, balance supply and demand and deliver grid services to SSE and National Grid.
To realise the project, Grupotec Renewable has been appointed to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), while Noriker will manage and develop the project for Equinor.
The project will start construction in January 2023 and is expected to be operational in the third quarter of the same year.
Equinor senior vice-president for power and markets within renewables Olav Kolbeinstveit noted: “Equinor aims to create a profitable renewables business by integrating battery storage assets in our portfolio in selected power markets.
“During the last 10 months we invested in two leading battery storage development companies, Noriker Power in the UK, and East Point Energy in the US. Today we took the next step and sanctioned our first commercial battery storage project.”