Kona Energy, a UK-based clean energy development company, said that it has obtained planning consent for its 200MW battery storage facility in Lancashire, England.
The project to be built in Heysham will offset 45,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum, which is the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars off the road per year.
According to Kona Energy, the battery storage facility is part of its larger 1GW portfolio.
The company said that the site of the project is located strategically to take part in various energy markets.
Kona Energy will build the Heysham battery storage facility at the landing point of six offshore wind farms, which include the Walney wind farm.
The battery project is expected to help in alleviating grid constraints, lower energy bills, and boost the utilisation of renewable energy.
It is planned to connect to the B7a constraint boundary, which is among the most constrained regions in the UK where wind farms and other low carbon technologies are curtailed regularly.
Kona Energy founder Andy Willis said: “Roughly one billion pounds was spent in the last year curtailing energy from wind farms and other generators, replacing that need elsewhere – usually from fossil fuelled stations.
“Tackling this enormous waste of both money and energy is crucial. Further battery storage facilities will significantly reduce this burden and we are proud to be leading the way with the approval of such a critical project.”
The proposed project will also offer critical local grid services in the form of inertia as well as reactive power support, said the company. Kona Energy stated that this will be increasingly important after the retirement of the Heysham nuclear power stations in 2024 and 2028.
