Three SMEs will partner to demonstrate how lithium-ion and sodium-ion powered energy storage systems can be connected to renewables in the UK.
AMTE Power, Brill Power and Starke Energy will demonstrate their relative energy storage products at a commercial-scale testbed at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, in Oxfordshire.
The energy storage system at Harwell is expected to be in operation from March, and will run for a minimum of 12 months.
The testbed will demonstrate AMTE’s lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery modules using Brill Power’s battery intelligence technology and Stark Energy’s energy management system, which links the system to the grid and energy markets.
AMTE is not disclosing details of the test systems capacity, how longthe lithium-ion ESS be used before switching to sodium-ion, and what services will be tested by the project— such as peak shifting, renewables integration, off grid power.
The UK has a cumulative 10.5GW capacity of energy storage projects (including battery-based projects) that have received planning approval up to 2030.
Combination of technologies
In the project’s first phase, AMTE Power will deploy lithium-ion cells before switching to use the company’s ‘Ultra Safe’ sodium-ion technology in the second phase of the project.
Brill Power’s battery intelligence technology will be deployed to ensure optimal battery usage, lifetime, performance, and safety.
Real-world data and operating parameters will be collected, which will support further optimisation of the technologies deployed in the demonstrator.
Starke Energy’s energy management system will integrate the battery system with the energy network at Harwell.
The system uses artificial intelligence to learn how much renewable energy is being produced and how much is being used to optimise energy levels across a network of connected batteries.
The project is part of the Interreg North-West Europe STEPS programme that is supporting 40 businesses through, in its first phase, a competitive product enhancement voucher programme valued at €12.500 ($14,000) each.
AMTE, Brill and Starke were all awarded first phase vouchers in March 2021.
As part of the second phase of STEPS, the collaborating partners have been awarded €50,000 ($57,000) to contribute to the costs of installation of their prototype technology at the Harwell testbed.