Despite the frantic start to the year as projects battled to meet testing and contracting deadlines in the face of Covid-19 delays it has been a fantastic achievement by the industry as four new BESS projects have begun operations and are providing DS3 System Services as of 1 April.
While total BESS operational capacity on the island was around 21 MW just over a year ago, these new projects bring the total capacity to 156 MW, and this number is expected to more than triple within the next 12 months as the industry goes from strength to strength.
The projects include
- Gore Street and Low Carbon’s Drumkee and Mullavilly projects in Northern Ireland
- Statkrafts’ Kelwin 2 project in Co. Kerry
- RWE’s Stephenstown Project in Co. Dublin
The projects will provide essential fast acting reserves and voltage support under the DS3 programme to help support our system and to increase the level of renewable generation that can be accommodated on the grid. This will help in the delivery of our renewable targets and reduce our power system carbon emissions.
Congratulations to all involved. This is another important milestone in decarbonising our electricity system.