The largest energy storage facility in Europe is being built in Scotland
It could be less than 10 years before Germany shuts down its charcoal piles and covers its electricity needs exclusively from renewable energies. Until then, however, there are still a few questions to be clarified, on the one hand, whether all electricity is also produced in this country or whether capacities are bought in from abroad, and on the other hand, how one can intercept the inconsistent energy gain from sun and wind, for example.
Because the Federal Republic will also consume electricity when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. A project from Scotland, the largest of its kind on the European continent, is now demonstrating how the energy supply can then be secured.
The Scottish “Green Battery” complex in Hunterston and Kincardine is designed to absorb excess energy from wind turbines and feed it back into the grid when required, increasing grid stability as a result and optimizing energy management in Scotland. The plant will be inaugurated in April 2024 and the energy transition will be continuously advanced in this way.
The two 400 megawatt battery systems each provide 800 megawatt hours, which means that an additional capacity of 1,750 gigawatt hours per year is possible. Once energy has been stored, it can also be distributed beyond the Scottish borders if required, so the electricity storage system also ensures greater grid stability throughout the UK at the same time.
The step that Scotland is taking with the new facility is hardly surprising. On the island, too, coal and gas-fired power plants are increasingly being taken off the grid, so the unreliability that sustainable alternatives bring with them must be efficiently compensated for. It will be exciting to see to what extent the example can one day serve as a role model for other nations.
Via Electrek
