Sungrow has signed a supply agreement with SSE Renewables for a major battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Yorkshire.
Sungrow, a manufacturer of PV inverters and energy storage systems, has agreed to provide SSE Renewables with 320MW/640MWh worth of its PowerTitan liquid-cooled BESS units for its Monk Fryston project in the north of England. Once completed, this project will be connected to the UK’s highest voltage level grid, increasing grid flexibility in the local area.
The PowerTitan units are specifically designed to expand grid flexibility. They use specialist “Stem Cell Grid Technology” that allows the BESS to effectively balance grid loads through rapid frequency and voltage regulation and dynamic harmonic suppression.
James Li, director of ESS at Sungrow Europe said: “With the increasing importance of energy storage, Sungrow is constantly improving its energy storage technology to provide customers with efficient, reliable, and safe energy storage systems. These systems can effectively and efficiently support grid stability and drive further progress of renewables. The leading grid-following and grid-forming capabilities of PowerTitan have also laid the foundation for the successful operation of this project.”
This is not the first time SSE Renewables and Sungrow have collaborated on a BESS project; Sungrow supplied 136 units for SSE Renewable’s BESS project in Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, with an installed capacity of 150MW/300MWh. This project, which began construction in August 2023 and is due to be completed later this year, is three times the size of SSE’s current flagship site in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Another leap forward for SSE
SSE Renewables has been making huge strides in the energy storage sector in recent months.
Last week, the company announced that exploratory tunnelling for its Coire Glas project had been completed, marking a major milestone in the UK’s first large-scale pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) scheme to be developed in 40 years.
If the project reaches completion, the Coire Glas storage development will have an installed capacity of 1,300MW and be capable of delivering 30GWh of long-duration electricity storage.
SSE Renewables is also developing another PHES project at Loch Fearna, Scotland. The 1.8GW Loch Fearna development has already received a grid connection offer for 1.795GW and is set to begin commercial operation in the mid-2030’s.
