Shell Energy Europe has announced the operation of its 100MW energy storage system, the project the company is calling the largest battery plant in Europe.

The project is in Minety in Wiltshire, South West England, and will be used to balance the UK’s electricity demand by powering up to 10,000 homes a day. This follows Shell Energy Europe Limited signing a multi-year offtake agreement in early 2020 to trade all of the power from the battery, as part of the company’s wider efforts to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy sources.

The Minety scheme is now the largest battery within National Grid ESO’s Dynamic Containment market, which was set up last year to deal with sudden frequency grid balancing issues, according to a statement.

The system comprises two 50MW batteries and was developed by Penso Power using funding secured from China Huaneng Group and the CNIC Corporation.

Limejump, an energy technology firm and a subsidiary of Shell, will operate the project.

David Wells, VP Shell Energy Europe, said: “Flexible storage and supply systems such as Minety have an essential role in balancing supply and demand – especially as renewable power sources become increasingly central to the UK’s energy needs.”

He said energy storage will play a critical role in supporting the UK to meet its target of achieving a net-zero emissions society by 2050.

Catherine Newman, CEO of Limejump said: “Delivering the Minety project during Covid has been an amazing team effort, and with our colleagues at Shell, we can now focus on optimising Minety’s performance and supporting National Grid ESO.”