The facility will provide grid services to integrate renewable energy and stabilise the regional electrical grid
The construction work on the CRYOBattery facility is expected to commence later this year. (Credit: Pixabay/Michael Schwarzenberger)
UK energy storage company Highview Power has secured £10m ($12.4m) funding from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for a 50MW cryogenic energy storage facility.
The firm has collaborated with a power station developer, Carlton Power to build and operate the facility, named as CRYOBattery.
Located in Carrington Village, at Trafford Energy Park, just outside of Manchester, the facility will provide grid services to integrate renewable energy and stabilize the regional electrical grid.
Once operational in 2022, the facility is expected to become one of Europe’s largest battery storage systems and will supply clean, reliable, and cost-efficient long-duration energy storage. It is expected generate a minimum 250MWh of power.
The construction work on the CRYOBattery facility is anticipated to commence later this year.
Both the companies planning to co-develop four CRYOBattery projects in UK
Highview Power CEO Javier Cavada said: “Javier Cavada, Highview Power CEO, said, “This new cryogenic energy storage plant will deliver much needed long-duration energy storage and provide valuable services to the National Grid.
“We are delighted to have been chosen to assist the UK in achieving its goal of a 100% clean, carbon-free energy future.”
For the development of the project, the company will utilise part of £35m investment that it has secured recently from Sumitomo Heavy Industries.
Highview Power and Carlton Power are planning to co-develop additional four CRYOBattery projects in the UK, totalling more than 1GWh.
Energy and Clean Growth Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This revolutionary new CRYOBattery facility will form a key part of our push towards net zero, bringing greater flexibility to Britain’s electricity grid and creating green collar jobs in Greater Manchester.
“Projects like these will help us realise the full value of our world-class renewables, ensuring homes and businesses can still be powered by green energy, even when the sun is not shining and the wind not blowing.”
In March last year, Highview Power signed an agreement with TSK to co-develop gigawatt-hour scale, long-duration energy storage systems using the former’s cryogenic energy storage solution.