Britain sets up funding model for renewable Energy Storage Projects

The UK will guarantee a minimum income for developers of renewable energy projects such as pumped-hydro to encourage investment in technologies which help Britain meet its climate goals.

Britain aims to decarbonise the power sector by 2030. This will require an increase in renewable energies, like wind and solar energy, as well projects that can store energy in the event of a lack of wind or sunlight.

Michael Shanks, Energy Minister, said that by using these projects to store the excess clean energy from renewable sources we can increase our energy security and rely less on fossil fuels.

Developers of long-term energy storage projects may apply for "cap-and floor" contracts, which provide a minimum guaranteed income in exchange for a revenue limit.

The scheme has been used in the past to pay for power interconnectors with other countries.

Pumped hydro power plants produce electricity by pumping the water uphill to a reservoir, then releasing it.

The technology's developers claim that it can even out the fluctuations in the amount of renewable energy on the grid.

SSE, Drax, and Statkraft are among the companies that have welcomed this move.

Drax is planning to add a 600 megawatt power plant to its Cruachan pumped-storage facility in Scotland, while SSE plans a hydro project worth 1.5 billion pounds (1.96 billion dollars) in Scotland.

The announcement today is a crucial step in removing one of key obstacles developers face when building a new generation pumped storage hydro plant, said Ian Kinnaird.

Other long-term energy storage technologies include compressed air energy, liquid air energy and flow batteries.

The government announced that the energy regulator Ofgem in Britain will design the scheme, with the first round of applications open to applicants in 2019. ($1 = 0.7651 pounds)

(source: Reuters)