Slated to be operational in April 2024, the two 400MW battery facilities will offer grid stability services and power management across the central belt of Scotland
The battery storage projects will be located in Hunterston and Kincardine. (Credit: Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay)
Renewable energy developer Amp Energy has announced the development of two battery storage facilities with a capacity of 800MW in central Scotland.
Slated to be operational in April 2024, the two 400MW battery facilities will have 800MWh of energy storage capacity.
The projects, which will be located in Hunterston and Kincardine, will offer grid stability services and power management across the central belt of Scotland including Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Earlier this month, the two sites secured planning consent from the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit.
Claimed to be the two largest grid-connected battery storage projects in Europe, the facilities will use the company’s Amp X AI-powered digital energy platform to enhance dispatch of power from the batteries to the electricity grid.
Amp’s facilities will also use an advanced grid-forming inverter technology, in addition to two new synchronous condensers for grid stabilisation.
Amp co-founder and chief investment officer Paul Ezekiel said: “The UK electricity grid is in the process of transitioning to a greener net-zero market.
“This has only been accelerated with the recently awarded addition of 25GW of offshore wind licenses as part of the ScotWind offshore wind leasing programme.”
Amp’s Scottish battery facilities are expected to enable up to 1,750GWh of additional renewable energy per annum in Scotland in the coming years.
The Hunterston and Kincardine projects will also take part in National Grid’s Scottish Stability Pathfinder 2 tender, which focuses on addressing voltage and stability issues faced by the UK electricity grid.
Amp’s expansion in Europe consists of development and ownership of solar and wind with large-scale energy storage facilities in Spain and the UK.
The company is also involved in the development of several green hydrogen projects, which complement its Asia-Pacific green hydrogen development activities.
Recently, it secured $350m financing from a consortium of institutional investors to support the construction of its growing renewables and battery storage asset portfolio globally.