Mitsubishi Power is entering the European energy storage market with four BESS projects totalling 371MWh for ION Renewables in Ireland.
The power solutions arm of the large Japanese conglomerate has entered into an exclusive agreement with developer ION Renewables to provide its Emerald solution for the four battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, which will total 185.5MW/371MWh.
The two-hour projects are set to come online in 2024 and will provide frequency and capacity services to Ireland’s national grid, operated by Eirgrid, through its Secure Sustainable Electric System (DS3) framework. All four are brownfield sites with existing grid connections.
The Emerald solution can have up to six hours’ duration, and includes project engineering, equipment supply, and a 10-year long-term service agreement.
John Ward, director, ION Renewables, said: “These installations represent a viable and economical solution to balance the network, strongly aligning with the principles of the REPowerEU draft directive. These projects demonstrate that effective solutions for storing energy can be achieved by utilizing renewable power that would otherwise be curtailed.”
Ireland is targeting a renewable energy mix of 70% by 2030 and the BESS projects will help to integrate more renewables on the grid. Frequency response services well-suited to batteries have made Ireland a relatively advanced market for battery energy storage relative to its size.
The island – as both the Republic and Northern Ireland share a grid, they can be categorised as one energy market – is set to have 1,400MW of BESS installed by the end of this year, according to research firm Delta-EE. However, the firm expects annual deployments to fall over the next few years from a high of c.750MW in 2021 to c.250MW from 2025 onwards, partially because of a new interconnection planned with France.
In an exclusive interview with Energy-Storage.news in April, Mitsubishi Power’s senior VP for energy storage solutions Thomas Cornell said 2022 would be the year in which the energy storage sector would diversify across the globe, having been dominated in 2021 by a handful of countries and US states. The firm recently secured an order for its Emerald solution, similar in size to ION’s, in Chile.