Energy storage company Eku Energy has completed the commissioning of the Maldon battery energy storage system (BESS) in Maldon, Essex. The system is designed to provide flexibility to enable more renewable generation to connect to the UK grid, thereby increasing the resilience of the country’s electricity network.
“The Maldon battery energy storage system is Eku Energy’s first project to reach commercial operation in the UK, and we are excited to be delivering critical energy storage capability to the UK network,” said Eku chief executive Daniel Burrows.
“Battery energy storage provides important firming capability to increase the grid’s renewable energy hosting capacity.”
The BESS project was built by Trina Storage and supported by independent connection provider (ICP) ESM Power. The system has a capacity of 40MW, or 40MWh, and is capable of responding within 350 milliseconds, which makes it suited to delivering ancillary and balancing services to support both the local grid and the UK’s National Grid.
The Maldon BESS project has also secured a long-term capacity market contract. The battery was connected to the local electricity network by UK Power Networks.
“We play a key role in supporting the country’s transition to net zero by ensuring there is sufficient electrical network capacity for customers to connect low-carbon technologies such as EVs or renewable generation,” stated UK Power Networks project manager, Zhen Wang. He went on to describe utility batteries as a “cornerstone” of this strategy.
The Maldon BESS project is not the only battery development Eku is advancing in the UK. In February, the company said it had broken ground on two new UK BESS schemes in Basildon, Essex and Loudwater, Buckinghamshire.
These two projects represent 130 MWh of installed capacity on a combined basis and will be built using NHOA Energy’s BESS technology, marking that company’s entry into the UK market.
Those two projects are due to be operational by the end of 2024.
Eku was launched in 2022 to specialise in global battery storage. The company is jointly owned by a fund managed by Australia-based Macquarie Asset Management and Canada’s British Columbia Investment Management (BCI).
Eku currently has 4.6 GWh of BESS capacity under development, construction and operation across the UK, Australia, Italy and Japan. It is targeting 9 GWh of capacity by 2028.
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