January 7, 2022: Singaporean energy firm Sembcorp Industries on December 14 revealed plans to install what it claims will be Europe’s largest grid-scale battery in the north of England.
The Asian firm already has an energy portfolio of more than 13GW, it says, and will add a 360MW battery in stages to its site at Wilton International, on Teeside.
The agreement came out of discussions held at the recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Sembcorp says.
“As one of the UK’s largest battery portfolios, the units can supply power and other services to the national grid in a matter of milliseconds, and such rapid response time is crucial to maintaining a secure and stable energy system that will aid the UK’s low-carbon transition,” Sembcorp said.
“With a growing reliance on renewables, the UK energy system needs to be flexible and able to respond quickly to changes,” said UK & Middle East CEO Andy Koss. “Sembcorp Energy UK is committed to accelerating the energy transition with sustainable solutions such as batteries.”
The battery will be more than three times the size of the existing ‘largest’ battery in Europe, which is in Wiltshire, also in England.