Energy Firm InterGen has been granted planning consent to build the UK’s largest battery storage project—a 320MW/640MWh system with the potential to expand to 1.3GWh.
The £200 million ($267 million) project on the Thames Estuary in Essex will more than double the Hornsdale Power Reserve system in Australia, which is the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in operation.
The battery will most likely deliver frequency response and grid balancing services with an initial two-hour duration.
The announcement comes just months after the UK lifted its planning threshold for energy storage system (ESS) projects in England to 350MW from 50MW following a 10-month consultation by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
BEIS granted the Scotland-based InterGen consent to deliver the battery storage project, which could ultimately deliver 1.3GWh of power.
Construction on the Gateway project would likely begin in 2022, becoming operational in 2024.
InterGen is also exploring a further large battery project at its site in Spalding, Lincolnshire, which would be 175MW/350MWh. The planning permissions are in place for this.
In November, BEST reported how Neoen and Tesla— the companies responsible for the Hornsdale project— were preparing to deploy a 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery in Geelong, Australia.
Plans were set in motion when French utility Neoen was awarded a 250MW grid services contract with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in a competitive tender initiated by the Victorian Government.
The Victorian Big Battery is set to become operational by the end of 2021.
