Vitol Launches JV for UK Battery Project
Vitol owned VPI Immingham and renewable investment fund Low Carbon Ltd have launched a joint venture to invest up to 250 million pounds ($311 million) in energy storage and distributed power generation in Britain, the companies said on Tuesday.
The VLC Energy joint venture will initially build two battery storage plants, one in Cleator, Cumbria and one in Glassenbury, Kent, to be connected to Britain's electricity grid by the end of the year.
The two plants have already won contracts with Britain's National Grid (NGG) to provide super fast balancing services, called enhanced frequency response (EFR), under a first auction aimed at battery storage providers held last year.
Renewable electricity production has risen strongly in Britain over the last few years, with wind farms contributing more than 10 percent of the country's electricity in 2016, increasing the need for storage technology to help the grid operator better balance electricity supplies and demand.
"Renewable energy is playing an increasingly important role in the UK's energy mix and as this role expands, the development of energy storage plants will be central to the future success of the UK's energy network," said Roy Bedlow, chief executive at Low Carbon.
The two new plants will have a combined capacity of 50 megawatts (MW), and account for a quarter of the capacity of the EFR contracts awarded last year.
Vitol's VPI Immingham in the north of England, is Europe's largest combined heat and power unit and is capable of generating up to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity or around 2.5 percent of Britain's demand.
Reporting By Susanna Twidale
