grid-tied storage

Northern Powergrid in the UK has installed six energy storage devices into its live electricity network as part of a trial to balance the supply and demand of electricity with batteries.

The trial includes installation of the largest capacity battery in operation in Europe at 5MWh; it is a nanophosphate lithium-ion battery supplied by A123 Energy Solutions. Two 200kWh and three 100kWh capacity batteries are also in use in both urban and rural locations across the northeast of England.

The storage devices are sited at different points on the network to get a better understanding of how the batteries work in both urban and rural settings with a range of construction types and varying customer needs.

Northern Powergrid will be monitoring all six of the batteries and the networks they are on through an active network management control system that allows the company to view in real time when and where to utilise the stored energy.

The data gathered from this trial will show how feasible the model is to use across the UK. It is part funded by Ofgem’s Low Carbon Networks Fund.