Thursday, December 26, 2024
Infrastructure and TechnologyLatestNews

Amp Energy announces two flagship 400MW projects in Scotland

Amp Energy, a global Energy Transition Platform, and renewable energy developer, has announced Europe’s two biggest battery storage facilities with its 800 MW battery portfolio in central Scotland (the Scottish Green Battery Complex).

The portfolio is due to be operational in April 2024 and will be comprised of two 400 MW battery facilities, each providing 800 MWhrs of energy storage capacity.

  • following consultations with stakeholders and local councils the two sites received planning consent from the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit on the 5th January 2022
  • the 400 MW batteries will be the two largest grid-connected battery storage facilities in Europe
  • Amp X, Amp’s proprietary AI-powered digital energy platform, will be used to optimize dispatch of power from the batteries to the electricity grid
  • the projects will provide reliable grid stability services and power management across the central belt of Scotland including Glasgow and Edinburgh
  • by storing and managing the dispatch of renewable energy generated from Scottish windfarms, the projects are future-proofing the UK’s electricity infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of expensive transmission upgrades.

The projects, located in Hunterston and Kincardine, provide an important step forward for the UK towards achieving its net-zero target. Following the recent ScotWind offshore wind announcement for the planned addition of 25 GW of new renewable generation capacity, the requirement for large-scale energy storage that can shift power and provide grid stability services is even more critical.

Over the coming years, Amp’s Scottish battery facilities will enable up to 1,750 GWhrs per year of additional renewable energy to be generated in Scotland and transported to other regions of the UK, equivalent to enabling approximately 500 MW of new offshore wind deployments.

Ben Skinner, Vice President Global Markets at Amp, said: “With these ground-breaking projects Amp is making a significant investment in vitally needed green infrastructure as the UK transitions to a fully decarbonised grid. Our projects not only support the growth of renewable generation in Scotland but also provide an alternative to costly transmission upgrades for consumers.”

The Hunterston and Kincardine projects are also participating in National Grid’s Scottish Stability Pathfinder 2 tender, which seeks to address voltage and stability issues faced by the UK electricity grid. Amp’s facilities will deploy state-of-the-art grid-forming inverter technology alongside two new Synchronous Condensers installations which also assist with grid stabilisation.

Paul Ezekiel, Amp’s Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer, said: “The UK electricity grid is in the process of transitioning to a greener net-zero market. This has only been accelerated with the recently awarded addition of 25GW of offshore wind licenses as part of the ScotWind offshore wind leasing program.

“Amp’s development of strategically located, transmission-connected utility-scale batteries is helping the GB transmission network operator to provide UK citizens with a stable and secure carbon free electricity system.”

Image: Shutterstock

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