The Richborough Energy Park battery storage project, located in Kent in the United Kingdom on land formerly occupied by a coal power station, is now connected and energized on the electricity transmission network following the National Grid's work to plug the facility into its 400 kV Richborough substation.
The energy park, developed by Pacific Green and owned by Sosteneo Energy Transition Fund, boasts a 100 MW battery to boost the capacity and flexibility of the network. This will help balance the system by absorbing surplus clean electricity and discharging it back when the grid requires it – with the capability of powering approximately 250,000 homes for one hour.
The battery will also provide grid stability services, such as helping to manage voltage and frequency imbalances as renewable generation fluctuates.
“Battery storage has a crucial role to play in delivering a net zero energy system in Britain, so connecting projects like Pacific Green’s at Richborough Energy Park to our transmission network marks key progress on our country’s clean energy journey," said Stuart Jones, Portfolio Director of the Customer Connection South Region at the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
To ensure a safe connection, National Grid upgraded its Richborough substation to accommodate new switchgear and installed new protection and control systems on its supergrid transformer. The project was plugged in via a tertiary connection, which National Grid considers to be a complex but cost-effective connection type.
The Richborough substation currently hosts the connection for National Grid's own 1 GW Nemo Link interconnector with Belgium, and the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm also connects to an adjacent substation on the wider Richborough Energy Park site.
The battery will help maximize the clean electricity potential of these and other renewable projects in the region by storing and releasing green energy to power homes and businesses while helping relieve any system constraints.
