- Project is unique in UK in that solar panels and batteries will share common power conversion equipment
- Design will improve overall energy output of hybrid system, optimize costs, and increase reliability
- Project aligns with UK Government push to use energy storage to take full advantage of wind and solar power in combating climate change.
Aug 27, 2020: GE Renewable Energy announced today that it has been selected by Wykes to deliver a 25MW multiple hour duration Energy Storage Systems, to be integrated with Wykes’ Solar PV plant at the Chelveston Renewable Energy Park, in the United Kingdom. The site currently operates with 60 MW of solar energy and 26 MW of wind energy, featuring GE’s 2.85 MW onshore wind turbines. Wykes will use GE’s Reservoir Energy Storage technology to add another 60 MW of solar capacity, for a total of 120 MW of solar and 146MW from the park.
The Storage system will be the UK’s first direct-DC-coupled Solar deployment where the Solar Panels and the Batteries will share a common set of power conversion equipment. This will help improve the overall energy output of the solar-storage hybrid system while optimizing costs and increasing the overall system reliability and flexibility. This represents UK’s first DC-Coupled Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) integrated with a Solar Plant.
With the reservoir energy storage system Wykes have full flexibility for today’s market circumstances and future market dynamics. It allows Wykes to fully optimize the energy they generate on site optimize their grid connection and flexibility to choose how and when the energy generated is used.
Scott Coleman, Process and Controls Engineering Manager, Wykes Engineering Ltd said “As part of our ongoing relationship with GE Renewable Energy, we selected their power storage system as it was flexible, scalable and allowed us to perform a range of tasks enabling us to provide resilient services, not only to the National Grid, but to our Private energy consumers within our expanding on-site Grid.”
Prakash Chandra, Renewable Hybrids CEO, GE Renewable Energy, said: “The world is increasingly moving to generate more dispatchable renewables using Hybrid solutions – combining the power of standalone technologies like wind and solar with storage through controls and software, and, this project is a further demonstration of GE’s capabilities in this space. We are proud to have been selected by Wykes to deliver this flagship project in the UK and for the opportunity to deliver on this challenging solution.”
The UK Government recently announced that it will make it easier to construct projects to store renewable energy from solar and wind farms across the UK as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by 2050. There is currently 4 GW of storage projects in planning which could power a combined 6 million homes in the UK, in addition to the 1 GW of battery storage already in operation.
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About GE Renewable Energy
GE Renewable Energy is a $15 billion business which combines one of the broadest portfolios in the renewable energy industry to provide end-to-end solutions for our customers demanding reliable and affordable green power. Combining onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400+ gigawatts of clean renewable energy and equipped more than 90 percent of utilities worldwide with its grid solutions. With nearly 40,000 employees present in more than 80 countries, GE Renewable Energy creates value for customers seeking to power the world with affordable, reliable and sustainable green electrons.
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