As UK grid connection delays bite, National Grid commits to fast-tracking 10GW of BESS
National Grid fast-tracks grid connections for 10GW of UK BESS
National Grid is set to accelerate the connection of up to 10GW of battery energy storage projects in England and Wales, UK.
In an announcement made yesterday (6 November), the transmission system operator (TSO) for the UK grid in Great Britain (GB) revealed that 19 battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, totalling around 10GW, will be offered dates to plug in, on average, four years earlier than their current agreement. The projects set to benefit from this were not disclosed.
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National Grid said this is part of a new approach which removes the need for non-essential engineering works prior to connecting storage.
The freed BESS capacity adds to the 10GW of capacity unlocked for power generators with “shovel ready” projects revealed in September 2023.
This is the latest attempt to solve the grid connection woes that are currently plaguing the country’s energy system.
National Grid ESO, a separate arm of the organisation which is responsible for running the electricity system, published a five-point plan to speed up grid connections in June which it said could help projects connect to the grid between 2-10 years faster.
One of the core aspects of this was to speed up the connection of battery storage projects and thus ESO has welcomed the latest news.
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.