Statoil launches Batwind: Battery storage for offshore wind

Batwind could lead to savings of up to £50 a year on average energy bill and system-wide saving of up to £2.4bn a year by 2030

A new battery storage solution for offshore wind energy called Batwind will be piloted in the world’s first floating wind farm, the Hywind pilot park off the coast of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Stephen Bull, Statoil’s senior vice president for offshore wind.

Batwind will be developed in co-operation with Scottish universities and suppliers, under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Edinburgh on 18 March between Norwegian state oil company Statoil, the Scottish Government, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and Scottish Enterprise.

Battery storage has the potential to mitigate intermittency and optimise output. This can improve efficiency and lower costs for offshore wind, Statoil said in a press release.

The pilot in Scotland will provide a technological and commercial foundation for the implementation of Batwind in full-scale offshore wind farms, opening new commercial opportunities in a growing market.

“Statoil has a strong position in offshore wind. By developing innovative battery storage solutions, we can improve the value of wind energy for both Statoil and customers. With Batwind, we can optimise the energy system from wind park to grid. Battery storage represents a new application in our offshore wind portfolio, contributing to realising our ambition of profitable growth in this area,” said Stephen Bull, Statoil’s senior vice president for offshore wind.

battery Statoil will install a 1MWh Lithium battery based storage pilot system in late 2018. This equals the battery capacity of more than 2 million iPhones.

The pilot will be part of Hywind Scotland, an innovative offshore wind park with five floating wind turbines located 25 km offshore Peterhead. The wind park is currently under construction and start of electricity production is expected in late 2017.

“The signing of this MoU will allow the signatories to work together in the development of the Batwind battery storage solution. This will help maximise the renewable generation of the Hywind offshore wind farm, whilst informing the case for energy storage and demonstrating the technology’s ability to support renewables in Scotland and internationally,” said Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing.

Hywind illustration

“A recent industry and Government report, produced by the Carbon Trust, concluded that if the energy market was adapted to appropriately recognise the benefits of electricity storage to the wider system, this could lead to savings of up to £50 a year on an average energy bill and a system wide saving of up to £2.4bn a year by 2030,” said Ewing.

“Innovations such as the integration of battery storage technologies are another key element in the future energy mix and will enable a greater penetration of renewable technologies in Scotland and support the development of next generation ideas such as floating wind,” said Andrew Jamieson, Chief Executive of ORE Catapult.