The battery storage system will provide grid balancing services to EirGrid and SONI. Image: ABO Wind.
Renewable energy developer ABO Wind has commissioned its first standalone battery energy storage system (BESS), in Kells, Northern Ireland.
The Germany-based firm has commissioned the 50MW/25MWh BESS unit which it claimed is one of the fastest storage systems globally, with a response time of less than 150 milliseconds. It is also the largest BESS ABO Wind has ever connected to the grid, with the company having done industrial microgrids and hybrid systems paired with solar PV to date in Germany.
The BESS will provide grid balancing services to grid operators EirGrid and SONI to help cope with the fluctuating renewable energy from wind farms. Both Ireland and Northern Ireland aim to have 70% of their electricity mix from renewable energies by 2030.
Nidec ASI was chosen as the system integrator for the energy storage project, which has a discharge duration of 30 minutes. The company has deployed over 1.6GWh of energy storage globally to-date and featured in IHS Markit's top 10 battery storage system integrators for 2021.
Switzerland-based infrastructure investor SUSI Partners acquired the project from ABO Wind in October 2021, through its energy storage fund, while ABO Wind will oversee technical and commercial operational management of the battery system.
Dr Julia Badeda, division manager for hybrid energy systems and storage at ABO Wind, commented: "We are currently planning many similar projects in several countries. In Germany, we have already received three construction permits for stand-alone battery projects this year, which we will implement before the end of the year."
Dominique Llonch, CEO of Nidec ASI and Chairman of Nidec Industrial Solutions, added: “I am very proud of this turnkey project. The fact that SUSI Partners and ABO Wind chose us as a partner is further proof of the excellent results, we have achieved to date in the battery energy storage sector, particularly the exceptional performance of our products which we continue to demonstrate in the field."