Energy storage developer Pulse Clean Energy announced today (26 November) that it has successfully powered its latest battery energy storage system (BESS) project.
The Hirwaun BESS development is a 22MW/49.5MWh BESS based in Aberdare, Wales. The current energy supply represents a significant milestone for Pulse Clean Energy, as the Hirwaun BESS is the company’s first two-hour battery. Now fully powered, the asset will be optimized by Habitat Energy, which has previously worked with Pulse Clean Energy to optimize other BESS assets in England and Wales.
This project is part of a broader plan by Pulse Clean Energy to convert diesel energy generation sites into 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 extended 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 sustainable energy solutions into the UK electricity grid. Battery storage is critical to strengthening the resilience of the electric grid and enabling growth in renewable energy generation.”
In February this year, the company announced it was working with energy storage platform provider Powin on Project Overhill, a 50MW/110MWh BESS being developed in Scotland. Powin will provide its Stack750 energy storage system units with associated software, while Pulse Clean Energy will oversee asset delivery and operations management for the project. The project is expected to be fully commercially operational by mid-2025.
Increasing the BESS capacity that comes online
This is not the only important BESS resource that has been energized in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Irish electricity company ESB announced it had opened a 150MW/300MWh BESS in County Cork, making it ESB’s largest operating asset to date.
Britain also saw another major milestone this month, when the country’s first co-located solar and storage facility, the Larks Green project, was connected to the UK transmission network for the first time. While the 70MWp solar PV power plant on site was completed in April 2023, the more recent commissioning of the 49.95MW/99MWh BESS makes the project the first of its kind to be connected to the UK transmission grid.
Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, TagEnergy recently powered what it claims is Britain’s largest transmission-connected BESS, the 100MW/200MWh Lakeside development.
