Smith Brothers Contracting has started construction at a 40MW energy storage project for Arlington Energy in England.
The contractor will oversee all “private, contestable and EPC works” relating to the facility at Greenfield Road in Bedford, from initial design, through to final commissioning.
Construction is due to be completed in October 2019.
The EPC works will include the procurement, delivery, installation and commissioning of 22, 12-metre long battery containers – as well as the construction of a solid base for each – along with the fitting of 66 inverters and 11 auxiliary transformers.
Contestable works include the design and build of a 132kV outdoor substation – including associated infrastructure – as well as the construction, supply, assembly and commissioning of the necessary protection panels.
The private elements include the design and construction of two transformer bunds, installation of post insulators, surge arrestors, NER and a set of a single switch disconnectors.
On completion the development will be connected to UK Power Networks via 800 metres of cabling.
Project-specific SCADA panels will also enable the customer to remotely control the site.
Smith Brothers director Dave Ogden said: “This is the second Arlington Energy project we’ve hit shovel-ready on in as many months, and it’s fantastic to see our client’s 1GW energy storage and gas peaking portfolio ambitions coming to fruition.
“The teams at Arlington and Smith Brothers HQ have worked hard to reach this point over the past year, and it’s impressive to see this next chapter of growth – for both firms – paving the way for the future of energy generation.”
Arlington Infrastructure director Matt Clare said: “We’ve been working closely with Smith Brothers over the past 12 months, to get everything in place ready for construction work to begin on site.
“It’s wonderful to see our vision coming to life – both at Chesterfield Road and most recently, at Greenfield Road – and it only reaffirms that we made completely the right EPC partner decision to deliver on our ambitions.”