Statkraft has stuck an agreement with Statera Energy to bring a gigawatt of gas and battery storage into its virtual power plant (VPP).
It is expected that Statera will amass that portfolio over the next three to four years.
The firm already operates some large storage facilities, such as the 49.9MW Pelham battery near Bishop’s Stortford, and a similar unit at Creyke Beck, co-located alongside a 49.9MW gas peaker.
Under the plan, Statera will add new storage and gas assets to Statkraft’s VPP as they come online, and Statkraft will optimise and trade their flexibility.
Given limited visibility of future revenues, the 15-year agreement with a state-backed utility provides Statera and its investors with additional confidence to build out the portfolio.
Providing route-to -market services is one of the ways in which Statkraft aims to build a multi gigawatt VPP in the UK. Its German VPP currently stands at around 12GW.
“Statkraft recognises the importance of flexible power generation for the provision of secure energy supply in the years to come until multi-day mass energy storage becomes economically viable,” said Duncan Dale, head of Statkraft’s UK markets business. “It is vital that any new generation capacity is highly efficient and ultra-flexible, like Statera’s.”
He said the utility had partnered with Statera due its “relentless optimisation” of projects.
“Everything about these projects suggests that new efficiencies can be made, which means lower carbon emissions and lower costs to the consumer,” said Dale.
“The energy market and the UK’s transition to a low carbon future should benefit greatly from unlocking this potential.”
Read a recent interview with Duncan Dale on Statkraft’s VPP masterplan here.
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