German storage specialist Tesvolt has supplied a 4MW battery storage facility connected to a 7MW solar park in southern England that will earn West Sussex county council grid balancing revenues.
The project marks the first subsidy-free municipal energy storage installation in the UK. Local engineering, procurement and construction services provider Arun Construction Services planned and installed the battery.
The 7.4MW solar farm connected to the 4.4MW lithium ion battery, which is sited on a 35-hectare former landfill site, stabilises the power network and earns revenues for the council through the provision of grid services.
The council will earn income from the installation over the next 25 years.
West Sussex County Council leader Louise Goldsmith said: “I am delighted to see the completion of Westhampnett solar farm. Living in the sunniest county, it makes absolute sense for us to use our natural resources and to generate clean energy that can be fed in to the local electricity grid.
“As one of the first solar farms to be built with battery storage and free from government subsidy, we are blazing a trail among local authorities and demonstrating that councils have a role to play as local leaders on energy.”
The power generated at the solar farm will be sold on the electricity wholesale market. The batteries will generate additional income from price arbitrage, frequency regulation services, plus triad management as well as from the capacity market.
Tesvolt key account manager Christian Went said: “Public bodies don’t think in financial quarters like other investors. A storage system with a service life of 30 calendar years, as ours has, is ideal to meet the requirements for a solution which serves tax payers in the long term.”
Arun Construction Services director Kevin Keiley said: “The demand for effective battery storage systems is currently high in the UK. This will continue to be a topic of interest in the coming years for companies and municipalities which can be remunerated for grid services.”