The Olde House is an early leading innovator in using renewable technology to support its business, adopting solar and biomass generation as well as demand use management.
The cost of the installation is being supported by funding from energy services company Centrica who will also work with the site owner to optimise the use of the redT’s energy storage assets.
Cornwall has an “end of line” distributed energy grid which is struggling to embrace one of the fastest growing solar markets in the UK. Solar is now one of the cheapest forms of energy generation, however excess production during the day results in new solar projects no longer being approved to connect to the grid during daytime hours.
Once installed, the redT machines will be coupled alongside two grid-connected solar arrays with a combined capacity of 350kWp and one of its key functions will be used to timeshift excess solar generation produced during the day for use during peak times when electricity from the grid is most expensive, this is known as “Solar firming”. Using redT’s energy storage machines, the site could save up to 50% on grid imports during peak times.
redT’s energy storage machines will also demonstrate functionality to provide energy services to the local Cornwall grid which will generate additional revenues for the project. These services can include a combination of; frequency response, STOR, participation in the capacity market and demand turn up.
Further functionality for the energy storage machine ¬to participate in energy arbitrage and local energy trading is proposed to be demonstrated over time, assisting the grid through buying energy when there is cheap excess and selling it when there is an expensive shortage.
The energy storage machines that will be installed were originally manufactured for an installation on the Isle of Gigha, as part of a joint project undertaken by DECC (now BEIS), redT and The Gigha Community to remove constraints placed on the island’s community wind farm. Since the project was initially conceived, the constraint placed on the Isle of Gigha windfarm has now been removed, which was the primary reason for installing the systems.
This happened due to a material upgrade of the grid connection to the mainland which was completed well ahead of expectations. Since the purpose of the project was to demonstrate the full functionality of redT’s modular energy storage machines, the project stakeholders have decided to relocate the machines to a site where the systems can be better utilised to maximise their full range of functionality.
Throughout their time at The Olde House site, the machines will remain under the ownership of redT and will continue to be supported by BEIS. The remaining redT machine, manufactured for the Gigha project, will also be placed at a new site in due course.
Scott McGregor, CEO, redT energy commented: “We are very privileged to be working with Centrica and The Olde House on this exciting project, which will demonstrate how liquid energy storage machines can be utilised in a commercial environment to create new savings and revenue streams for the site owner and support the distributed energy market in Cornwall.
"redT’s machines will demonstrate how distributed energy grids such as this can embrace solar generation by coupling with energy storage to provide reliable, cheap energy all day and night, so called “Firm Solar”. redT’s liquid energy storage machines will also show how this type of technology, storing energy in liquid which doesn’t degrade, can provide the full portfolio of “stacked” services rather than the single functions typically provided by batteries.
"With respect to the Isle of Gigha, the improvements made to the capacity constraints is great news for the island and its inhabitants. Our machines, which were manufactured and successfully tested to alleviate these constraints can now, through their modular design, be simply relocated to service another customer’s requirements. The revenue generation opportunities we will demonstrate by locating these at The Olde House, combined with the ability to move the machines to different locations highlights the strong investment case our redT energy storage machines possess for UK renewable energy projects.”
Shaun Hawkey, Manager at The Olde House commented: “The Olde House has always been an early adopter of new energy technologies, having already implemented Solar PV and Biomass on our farm. With the addition of these redT energy storage machines, we will have a complete, independent, renewable energy infrastructure system which fully unlocks the potential of our renewable energy generation.
"This will reduce overall energy costs for our business and generate future income by servicing the local Cornwall energy network. We’re looking forward to being part of a project that will not only allow our customers to experience new energy technologies, but also provide a financial benefit to our business in the process.”
