National Grid has awarded enhanced frequency response (EFR) contracts worth £66m to seven companies. Most of the contracts are for battery storage.
EFR is a new frequency response service which requires providers to help balance the national power grid in under a second.
EDF, Vattenfall, Low Carbon, Eon, Element Power, RES and Belectric have taken the contracts available in the first 201MW tender. They will receive four year contracts with a total value of £65.9m.
National Grid said that service will reduce costs to consumers by around £200m.
Renewable energy investment firm Low Carbon was awarded two contracts totaling 50MW, EDF a contract for 49MW, Vattenfall 22MW, Eon 10MW, Element Power 25MW, RES 35MW and Belectric 10MW.
National Grid said that of the 64 sites that make up the 201MW total capacity, 61 are for battery assets, two are from demand reduction and one from thermal generation.
Cordi O’Hara, director of UK system operator, National Grid said: “We are constantly looking to the future to understand how we can make the most of the energy available to us. This project is at the very core of our Power Responsive work, to balance the Grid by the most efficient means possible, saving money and energy.
“These awards show that we can work with industry to bring forward new technology and I believe storage has much to contribute to the flexible energy system of tomorrow. This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the industry.”
Battery storage is one of the topics covered at Energyst Media’s demand-side response conference in London next month. There are a handful of tickets left for end users looking to provide balancing services. Click here to find out more.
Related stories:
Battery storage: positive outlook?
Free demand-side response conference
Demand-side response: Give us your views
National Grid must provide a plan for battery market, says SmartestEnergy
Can National Grid hit its 2020 DSR target?
Limejump boss: Big six will have to acquire aggregators or lose relevence
National Grid buys 3.6GW of back-up power to cover winter
Three policy tweaks that could enable 10GW of battery storage
Decc, Ofgem and National Grid must make battery storage stack-up
Ofgem: Energy flexibility will become more valuable than energy efficiency
National Grid boss: future of energy is demand not supply
National Grid says impact of solar requires greater system flexibility
National Grid signs 20MW demand-side response contract with battery storage operator
National Grid says UK will miss 2020 targets, predicts big battery future
Major changes to capacity market proposed
Hot technology: energy storage via heat battery
Western Power Distribution ramps up demand-response trials, calls for participants
Smart grids ‘require local control and businesses must play or pay’
National Grid must simplify demand response to scale UK market
Energy Technologies Institute: Let private firms run smartgrid trials
Flexitricity blasts transitional capacity market as Npower plots supermarket sweep
Follow us at @EnergystMedia. For regular bulletins, sign up for the free newsletter.
