Wind energy developer Ørsted broke the ground on a development of a battery energy storage system (BESS) to be laid together with the Hornsea 3 Offshore wind farm.
The Bess development will have a capacity of 300 MW/600MWH and is expected to be operational by the end of 2026. Ørsted claims that De Bess has been completed once, the Bess will be one of the largest in Europe.
As previously reported on Solar -Energy Portal” The project will be the first large -scale battery installation of Ørsted in the UK and will be owned by Ørsted Iceni Energy Storage UK, the storage -oriented branch of the Danish energy company and developer. The project is unusual because the storage system will be educated with the Onshore Understation that shares a connection with the offshore wind farm. Ørsted claims that Hornsea 3, which is the largest wind energy factory worldwide as a capacity of 2.4 GW.
Beatrice D’Eufemia, Project Manager said: “This is a very exciting project to be part of, not only for Ørsted, because it is our first large-scale battery installation in the UK, but also for the British energy industry, because this project includes two generators that use a shared grid connection.
“Success here opens the possibilities for an increased use of existing grid infrastructure in the UK, which is crucial when there is a real problem with congestion in the network.”
Ørsted’s British ambitions
This is far from the only large British project in which the Danish Energy Major is currently involved.
In January of this year, Ørsted revealed plans for a 320 MW solar -PV energy plant in East Yorkshire. The Kingfisher Solar Farm, which is proposed to be three miles north of the city of Beverly, will be classified as a national important infrastructure project (NSIP), which means that Ørsted has to secure a development assignment (DCO) of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
If the plans are approved, the project is expected to be operational towards the end of 2030 and has been running for 60 years. Ørsted has not yet stated when an application is submitted for a DCO. The first round of public consultations for the project is open until March 9, with locals and companies that have been invited to share feedback online or personally.
Ørsted is currently involved in another NSIP proposal, after he has formed a partnership with PS renewable energy sources to develop the proposed One Earth Solar PV energy center in Nottinghamshire. The development will contain a co-located Bess and has already been approved for 740 MW export/import connection by National Grid.