Sungrow, the Chinese PV system and energy storage supplier, and EIG, a leading US industrial investor, have entered a strategic partnership with the Edinburgh-based battery and BESS platform Fidra Energy. The latter is developing three of the largest battery energy storage sites in the UK.
Under the agreement, Sungrow will supply its 2.5MW/5MWh LFP liquid-cooled energy storage system (ESS) PowerTitan 2.0 to two of Fidra’s UK sites, Thorpe Marsh in South Yorkshire and West Burton C in Nottinghamshire. It claims an 89.5% round-trip efficiency for the utility-scale LFP batteries.
The two projects have the capacity to supply more than one million homes with power during peak hours of electricity demand. The systems are to be of two-hour duration initially with expansion potential to a four-hour system.
James Wu, Senior Vice President of Sungrow, said: “The PowerTitan 2.0 is designed specifically for grid-forming, significantly enhancing the resilience and stability of the UK’s power grid.”
Chris Elder, Fidra Energy’s CEO, added: “Our strategy is focused on building and operating big batteries in major markets. Sungrow has demonstrated that it will be an excellent partner, and we look forward to working with them to support our UK and European growth ambitions. Fidra Energy is aiming to establish a 10GW platform across the UK and other European markets by 2030.”
Financial partner EIG has committed over $49.3 billion to the energy sector through 415 projects or companies in 44 countries on six continents.
Sungrow has conducted energy storage fire tests to assess battery fire risks and to address precautions. A test performed in June with PowerTitan 1.0 and 2.0 liquid-cooled batteries, the second the world’s largest combusting 20MWh. The test results exceeded expectations, it said.
There was no fire propagation during the thermal runaway incident. Sungrow added “in contrast to conventional industry burn tests, this test was a significant upgrade in terms of combustion duration, testing conditions, and safety standards.”
