Wärtsilä will support the projects under 10-year service agreements with flexible performance guarantees. The order was booked with Wärtsilä in December of 2019.
The two 50 MW lithium-ion batteries will be the first projects completed as part of Pivot Power's program to develop, own and operate up to 2GW of grid-scale energy storage and high volume power connections which are directly connected to the UK high-voltage transmission system.
The projects will provide flexible capacity and reliability to support increased renewable energy generation and EV charging infrastructure. The UK market for EVs is expected to expand significantly in 2020.
This is the largest energy storage deal in Europe for Wärtsilä, which has set its sights on the UK as a key new market, as part of its plan to lead the global transition towards a 100% clean energy future.
Adrien Lebrun, Pivot Power's engineering director, said, "At Pivot Power we are committed to enabling a clean electric future and accelerating the expansion of electric vehicles across the UK, and as part of EDF Renewables we are making this vision a reality. These Wärtsilä energy storage systems allow us to harness cutting-edge technology to future-proof our investments in a changing energy market, supporting our long-term goal to reduce the UK's carbon footprint and bring us closer to net zero."
The systems are based on Wärtsilä's advanced energy management software platform GEMS , which leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable the intelligent management of large-scale energy storage systems, and innovative GridSolv modular storage
solution, which supports stand-alone energy storage deployments and integrated hybrids with thermal or renewable generation assets. Wärtsilä's solutions can be dynamically adjusted according to the demands of the markets across multiple revenue streams and can optimize a fleet of assets for best results.
The contract is the first to be announced since EDF Renewables acquired Pivot Power in November 2019. It forms part of EDF Group's Electricity Storage Plan under which it aims to be the leader in Europe with 10GW of additional storage by 2035. It also supports EDF Electric Mobility Plan, to become the leading electric mobility company by 2022 in the UK, France, Italy and Belgium. Beyond this 2022 date, the Group's goal is to provide power for 600,000 electric vehicles and 75,000 charging points.
Image caption: 100 MW of energy storage to Pivot Power will provide flexible capacity and reliability to support increased renewable energy generation and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Site in Kemsley. Copyright Wärtsilä
