The plant will use GE’s Reservoir Energy Storage technology to add another 60MW of solar capacity

GE

The deployment will include direct-DC-coupled solar storage system. (Credit: General Electric.)

GE Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE), has been selected by Wykes to install a 25MW multiple hour duration energy storage systems at Wykes’ Solar PV plant at the Chelveston Renewable Energy Park, in the UK.

Chelveston Renewable Energy Park is a hybrid renewable energy project featuring a 60MW solar plant and a 26MW wind farm, powered by GE’s 2.85MW onshore wind turbines.

Considered to be the first in the UK, the deployment will include direct-DC-coupled solar storage system where the solar panels and the batteries will share a common set of power conversion equipment.

It is expected to improve the overall energy output of the solar-storage hybrid system while helping in optimising costs.

Wykes Engineering process and controls engineering manager Scott Coleman said: “As part of our ongoing relationship with GE Renewable Energy, we selected their power storage system as it was flexible, scalable and allowed us to perform a range of tasks enabling us to provide resilient services, not only to the National Grid, but to our Private energy consumers within our expanding on-site Grid.”

Wykes to use GE’s Reservoir Energy Storage technology

Using GE’s Reservoir Energy Storage technology, Wykes will add another 60MW solar capacity, bringing the total solar generation to 120MW at the renewable energy park.

As part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by 2050, the UK government recently   made an announcement to make construction of energy storage projects easier.

Presently, there are 4GW in storage projects in planning, which could power 6 million homes in the country.

In addition, 1GW of battery storage capacity is already in operation in the UK.

GE Renewable Energy renewable hybrids CEO Prakash Chandra said: “The world is increasingly moving to generate more dispatchable renewables using Hybrid solutions – combining the power of standalone technologies like wind and solar with storage through controls and software, and, this project is a further demonstration of GE’s capabilities in this space.

“We are proud to have been selected by Wykes to deliver this flagship project in the UK and for the opportunity to deliver on this challenging solution.”