Edinburgh-based energy storage outfit StorTera is to install its ‘spiral-flow’ battery system in Perth & Kinross, Scotland, as part of a smart energy network.
StorTera has been awarded £5m funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to build a large scale demonstrator of its flow battery technology which will be installed in 2024.
The lithium-ferro-phosphate battery demonstrator forms part of a prototype smart energy network at the Friarton Waste Depot.
As well as reducing the council’s carbon footprint, the system will help bring down energy costs through smarter energy management while reducing carbon emissions and supporting the move towards low carbon transport and heating.
The smart energy network will help Perth & Kinross Council understand the requirements for developing Local Smart Energy Systems that can be built at scale across the Council’s estate and has the potential to help tackle fuel poverty.
The network will demonstrate how energy storage combined with intelligent controls can offer the council flexibility in its energy demand as well as enhancing how it generates renewable energy.
The smart energy network will fully utilise solar power generated on site by storing excess energy in batteries for use when required or when energy prices are high.
It will also generate revenue by providing renewable energy to the electricity network when demand is high, as power devices such as smart heaters with excess solar generation in turn supporting the electrification of heat.
The pilot will also show how clean energy can be transferred between council sites (peer to peer), for example transferring solar power generated at a school during summer holidays to another council site.
Councillor Richard Watters, convener of the Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee, depute convener Councillor Liz Barrett and Councillor Ken Harvey visited Friarton to see the battery in operation on 31 August.
Watters said: “This is ground-breaking technology that demonstrates our commitment to tackling the climate emergency.
“Innovation will be key to reducing our carbon footprint and this energy storage system, designed and built in Scotland, is the first of its kind to be used in this way and will help Perth become Europe’s most sustainable small city.”