Statkraft completes second energy storage project in Ireland

Norwegian utility and one of Europe's leading renewable energy producer Statkraft has announced the completion of construction of its second large-scale battery project in Ireland.

The Kelwin-2, 26MW battery project located in Tarbert, Kerry County, has already started providing reserves to the national electricity grid in case of a sudden drop in supply.

"We are delighted to have completed construction of our second battery project just one year after we energised Kilathmoy, the first large-scale battery built in Ireland. During three grid capacity alerts in January, our battery at Kilathmoy stepped up to the plate and was able to generate active power in critical periods to support the grid," commented Kevin O'Donovan, MD, Statkraft Ireland.

"On numerous occasions over the past year, the unit has also responded to short-term frequency drops to inject electricity into the national grid in a fraction of one second. Irish batteries are providing the fastest active power reserves responses anywhere in the world today," Mr. O'Donovan added.

Statkraft entered a contract with EirGrid, the state-owned electric power transmission operator in Ireland to support the national grid. The main purpose of the battery is not to store the bulk of wind generation but to respond quickly to the electrical frequency fluctuations that result from increasing amounts of intermittent power generation.

Like the 1MW Kilathmoy project, the Kelwin-2 project is also a hybrid site where the battery shares a grid connection with a wind farm.

"Obviously, the decarbonization of our energy network is going to need increased battery capacity to provide that vital grid stability and ensure smooth integration of renewables. We at Statkraft, are both pleased and proud to be very much to the fore, in that increasingly fast-moving transition to green," said Mr. O'Donovan.