January 9, 2020: Norwegian energy producer Statkraft on January 8 unveiled Ireland’s first utility-scale battery installation, which will back up 23MW of on shore wind-generated power with 11MW storage capacity.
The batteries, by LG Chem, will provide reserves to the national electricity grid, EirGrid, in the event of a sudden drop in power supply, and should be fully operational early this year, the firm said.
“This represents a very exciting milestone for power storage here,” said Statkraft Ireland managing director Kevin O’Donovan.
The installation has been delivered in partnership with energy storage technology firm Fluence and is sited at Kilathmoy, on the Limerick/ Kerry border.
“Ireland is one of the selected new growth markets for onshore wind and solar power in Statkraft,” the Norwegian state-owned company said.
“Statkraft’s current development pipeline is 1.25GW of onshore wind, 500MW of offshore wind and 350MW of solar energy in Ireland alone.”