Posted 15 Jul 2024
- Renewable energy infrastructure business Field announces the opening of our second battery storage site at Gerrards Cross on the outskirts of London earlier this year
- Battery storage will create a more reliable, flexible and greener energy system that provides greater energy security and helps countries across Europe move on from expensive fossil fuels
Field announces its second battery storage site, Field Gerrards Cross, is fully operational, storing electricity and supplying it back to the national grid.
The 20 MWh site is capable of powering the equivalent of 44,688 homes for one hour if called on, saving up to 5,725 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere every year. By building batteries in areas of high electricity demand, such as around London, Field can provide vital balancing services to the grid and make existing grid infrastructure more efficient. This helps to shape a more secure, cleaner and more flexible energy system.
Gerrards Cross (20 MWh) is Field’s second operational site. The first - Field Oldham (20 MWh) - began operation in 2022. A further three sites across Britain totalling 190 MWh are in construction, including Field Auchteraw (100 MWh), Field Newport (40 MWh), and Field Whitebirk (50 MWh).
The launch of Gerrards Cross comes as electricity network operators face acute grid constraints around the nation, due to a lack of electricity network infrastructure capable of keeping pace with the shift to renewable energy generation. Congestion is set to grow without urgent action, as the electricity system operator recently forecast that demand from commercial data centres will increase sixfold, in just the next decade, and that in homes, there will be an increasing shift towards heat pumps and electric vehicles. [1]
Batteries like Field Gerrards Cross can ease grid constraints and reduce reliance on carbon-intensive forms of generation, such as gas, by charging up when renewable electricity supplies are abundant and discharging during peak demand. They’re also a proven, effective technology which helps reduce the cost of energy for bill payers.
Chris Wickins, Technical Director at Field, said: “It’s great to have switched on our Gerrards Cross site and see it play a role in powering the national grid. While billions are rightly invested in new network construction, we need to see the planning approval and grid connection processes for new battery storage sites accelerated, particularly in areas of high demand or renewable energy supply.
“Crucially, we are also calling for changes in the way the Government, regulator and system operator work with batteries, in order to decarbonise our grid in a more cost-effective and efficient way. This will enable the system operator to make the most of existing network infrastructure and batteries to continue playing an important part in balancing supply and demand across the grid.”
[1] National Grid ESO’s John Pettigrew, Transforming the supergrid of the 1950s to a network built on an electrified future for generations to come, March 2024
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