EPC for battery energy storage system
United Kingdom
Project: Power grid stabilization and supply
security
Application: 10 MW Battery energy storage
system
Client: E.On U.K.
E.ON chose Nidec Industrial Solutions to
provide complete Engineering Procurement
Construction services for the United
Kingdom’s first Enhanced Frequency
Response (EFR) battery energy storage
installation.
• 2 – 450 V, 33 kV Step up transformers The challenge:
• 2x33 kV switchgears To help the United Kingdom achieve a stable power supply, while supporting the
• 4 – PCS and battery containers, including range of power generation sources feeding into the nation’s national grid.
1,088 battery modules
• HVAC system As the United Kingdom moves away from coal-fired power generation to renewable energy
• Fire protection system sources like wind and solar power, its grid has grown more vulnerable to sudden variations
• Civil construction in power generation or consumption. To address sudden surpluses or deficits in supply
• Electrical and mechanical erection and bring stability to the grid, today’s utilities need power sources that can reach full output
• Power and energy management systems or consumption in less than one second.
• SCADA system with national grid interface
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be designed to meet these Enhanced
Frequency Response (EFR) requirements. But in 2016, no systems of this kind had ever
been constructed in the U.K.
E.On UK, a British energy company, decided to break new ground when it announced
plans to build a 10 MW EFR at its Blackburn Meadows biomass power plant and
integrate it with the original plant’s power management system. The company sought
an Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) partner experienced in electricity
stabilization and power conversion technologies to complete the turnkey project. It
selected Nidec Industrial Solutions, which had completed similar projects throughout
Europe.
The solution:
The United Kingdom’s first Enhanced Frequency Response system
Over a one-year period, Nidec designed, procured and installed a 10 MW EFR system at
the Blackburn Meadows site. Nidec’s services began with site preparation, soil analysis
and drainage improvements, before moving to metal construction, assembling, testing and
commissioning the battery systems.
The new BESS – the first of its kind in the United Kingdom – consists of four lithium-
ion battery modules – two 1.5 MVA active front end AC/DC converters and two 900kWh
battery banks. Housed in shipping containers for easy transportation and “plug-and-play”
installation at Blackburn Meadows, each unit came complete with power converters,
transformers, batteries and a control system. The 10 MW battery has the same power as
approximately 100 automobiles. Located next to an existing biomass combined heat and
power plant, it holds the same amount of energy as 500,000 mobile phone batteries.
In addition to the EFR solution, Nidec also provided HVAC, fire protection, power and
energy management systems for the project, as well as a SCADA system that integrates
with the national UK grid for performance and billing.
Commissioned in 2017, the battery storage allows E.On to make the best use of its
renewable energy sources by harnessing the energy and having it ready for use whenever
it is needed. Nidec’s innovative battery storage technology not only increases the share
of renewable energy on the grid and improves the security of supply, it paved the way for
other EFR projects in the UK.
www.nidec-industrial.com
DEP2018.05.31.00EN
