RWE Generation has shelved plans to develop its Tilbury Energy Centre at the site of the former Tilbury B Power Station in the UK county of Essex.
The proposed development included a combined gas cycle turbine power station of up to 2,500 megawatts capacity, 100MW of battery storage, and 300MW of open cycle gas turbines.
Any generating station exceeding 50MW is defined as a ‘nationally significant infrastructure project’, under the UK’s 2008 Planning Act.
RWE said the decision was “made based on current market conditions and project costs”, and that the firm would “constantly explore options for how best to develop [its] site in Tilbury, which remains a good location for future energy options”.
The announcement follows a flurry of investment activity in UK energy storage projects, including plans unveiled at the start of 2018 by London-based Origami Energy to install a 9MW behind the meter storage system at London’s Port of Tilbury.
However, BEST Battery Briefing reported earlier this year that the UK’s Camborne Energy Storage had entered administration, indicating that the British battery energy storage market is not entirely risk free. Nevertheless, reports—such as this one from the UK Renewable Energy Association— have outlined huge imminent growth in the country’s aggregate storage capacity.
