Statoil to Install Large-Scale Battery Storage at Floating Scottish Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norway's oil and gas giant, Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) (Stavangar, Norway), has announced plans to test commercial-scale battery storage technology at the world's first floating offshore windfarm in Scotland.

The company will deploy Batwind, a 1-megawatt hour (MWh) Lithium battery-based storage system at its planned Hywind Scotland floating offshore windfarm, which will be located at Buchan Deep, 25 kilometers (km) from Peterhead. It will aim to solve the issues of intermittency and wasted power, two of the main drawbacks for wind and solar-based energy. The battery, capable of storing enough power for two million iPhones or around 330 homes, is being developed with Scottish universities and suppliers after Statoil signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently with the Scottish Government and various enterprises.

Construction of the Hywind windfarm is expected to kick off January 2017 with completion expected by the end of the year. Statoil expects to install the battery in 2018. The new windfarm will sit on floating foundations operating in water depths of between 95 meters and 120 meters, up to four times deeper than traditional offshore windfarms.

Stephen Bull, Statoil's senior vice president for offshore wind, said: "By developing innovative battery storage solutions, we can improve the value of wind energy for both Statoil and customers. With Batwind, we can optimise the energy system from wind park to grid. Battery storage represents a new application in our offshore wind portfolio."

Scottish and Energy Minister Fergus Ewing commented: "The signing of this MoU will allow the signatories to work together in the development of the Batwind battery storage solution. This will help maximise the renewable generation of the Hywind offshore wind farm, whilst informing the case for energy storage and demonstrating the technology's ability to support renewables in Scotland and internationally."

He referred to a recent industry and government report, produced by the Carbon Trust, that found if the energy market was adapted to include a greater rollout of electricity storage systems, it could result in savings of up to £50 ($71) a year on an average energy bill and a system wide saving of up to £2.4 billion ($3.4 billion) per year by 2030.

Industrial Info reported that Statoil had confirmed funding for the 30-MW Hywind Scotland floating offshore windfarm last November, which will cost just under $170 million. The following month, it awarded German engineering firm Siemens AG (FWB:SIE) (Munich, Germany) a contract to supply five of its SWT-6.0-154 direct-drive offshore wind turbines, rated at 5 megawatts (MW) each. For additional information, see November 10, 2015, article - World's First Floating Windfarm Gets Funding and the December 8, 2015 article - Siemens to Power Floating Offshore Windfarm.

Last July, the largest planned storage energy facility in the Nordic countries was revealed for Helsinki, Finland. Helen Ltd. (Sähkötalo, Finland), aims to build a megawatt-scale electricity storage facility in Suvilahti, close to its solar power plant - the largest of its kind in Finland. For additional information, see July 20, 2015, article - Finland Hosting Largest Energy Storage Project in Nordics.

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