Energy storage developer Pulse Clean Energy has today (26 November) announced that it has successfully energised its latest battery energy storage system (BESS) project.
The Hirwaun BESS development is a 22MW/49.5MWh BESS located in Aberdare, Wales. Today’s energisation represents a key milestone for Pulse Clean Energy, as the Hirwaun BESS is the company’s first two-hour battery. Now that the asset is fully energised, it will be optimised by Habitat Energy, which has previously worked with Pulse Clean Energy to optimise other BESS assets in England and Wales.
This project is part of a wider plan by Pulse Clean Energy to convert diesel power generation sites to grid-scale BESS assets, representing the fifth of nine sites that Pulse plans to convert in this way.
The project was financed by a £175 million credit facility granted to Pulse Clean Energy by a consortium of banks, including Santander, CIBC, Investec, the National Wealth Fund, and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario.
Trevor Wills, CEO of Pulse Clean Energy, said: “The successful commissioning of our first two-hour battery project is a milestone for Pulse Clean Energy as we continue to advance our strategy to support the integration of renewable energy solutions into the UK’s grid. Battery storage is crucial to strengthening the resilience of the grid and enabling growth in renewable energy generation.”
In February of this year, the company announced that it partnered with energy storage platform provider Powin on Project Overhill, a 50MW/110MWh BESS under development in Scotland. Powin will provide its Stack750 energy storage system units with associated software, while Pulse Clean Energy will oversee asset delivery and manage operations for the project. The project is expected to begin full commercial operations by mid-2025.
Increasing BESS capacity coming online
This is not the only significant BESS asset to be energised in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Irish state-owned electricity firm ESB announced it had opened a 150MW/300MWh BESS in County Cork, becoming ESB’s largest operational asset to date.
The UK also saw another significant milestone this month, as the nation’s first co-located solar and storage facility, the Larks Green project, connected to the UK transmission network for the first time. While the 70MWp solar PV power plant onsite was completed in April 2023, the more recent energisation of the 49.95MW/99MWh BESS makes the project the first of its kind to connect to the transmission grid in the UK.
Meanwhile in Yorkshire, TagEnergy recently energised what it claims is the UK’s largest transmission connected BESS, the 100MW/200MWh Lakeside development.
