DUBLIN, Ireland, April 11, 2007.
An energy storage system linked with a windfarm could guarantee an uninterrupted supply of green power to the grid, improve efficiency of the energy and remove financial risk, according to a feasibility study conducted for Sustainability Energy Ireland.
The study was conducted at the Sorne Hill windfarm in Buncrana, County Donegal. It was jointly funded by SEI and Tapbury Management, which manages the Sorne Hill facility.
The purpose was to determine the optimum size for energy storage to deliver an optimum return on investment, and to review the main benefits of a system. The report concluded that the optimum battery for a 6 MW windfarm is a 2 MW battery that can deliver six hours of storage.
“Ireland possesses a wind resource that is one of the best in Western Europe,” says David Taylor of SEI. “In order to exploit this, SEI is supporting the development of strategically important technologies which will enable Ireland to use large amounts of wind power reliably.”
The storage technology, called a Vanadium Redox Battery Energy Storage System (VRB-ESS) developed by VRB Power Systems of Canada, is designed to allow wind energy generated during off-peak periods to be stored and supplied to the national grid at a scheduled time. The storage system has the potential to increase the supply reliability of wind energy and reduce the cost of the reserve requirements from generation plants.
Batteries can be used to maximize wind intensity in rural regions by providing high quality power output and storing excess wind power for later release. In this way, increased wind penetration can be achieved more rapidly by deferring the cost of grid upgrades.
The battery may generate additional income for the windfarm by correcting power imbalances, providing premium power quality, delivering an energy trading service and providing grid ancillary services in a single electricity market, it adds.
Sorne Wind Energy is a private company formed to develop the 32 MW windfarm at a cost of Euro 40 million. Construction is complete and all 16 turbines have been generating electricity since July 2006.
“The feasibility report provides for the first time an initial technical and economic validation for a number of the key revenue streams that we had previously identified in relation to the integration of wind power and storage,” says John Ward of Tapbury Management. “We will now build on these assumptions to finalise the project design and implementation of the pilot scheme at Sorne Hill II, which we hope to have operational by mid 2008.”
“This will help Ireland reach the Government’s target to have one-third of Ireland's electricity supply coming from renewable sources by 2020.”
“This study demonstrates the economic viability of our systems for windfarms,” adds Tim Hennessy of VRB. “The report also highlights the need for storage in Ireland to enable the successful roll-out of wind generation from the current installed base of 800 MW up to and beyond the 3,000 MW currently contracted or proposed, and to deal with the intermittency and constraint issues already being experienced.”
“It is estimated that at least 700 MW of storage may be required across Ireland,” he adds. “This sale will provide us with a ‘blue-print’ to execute on similar opportunities in Ireland and worldwide.”
