The portfolio is scheduled to be operational in April 2024 and will comprise two 400 MW battery installations.
Following consultation with stakeholders and local councils, both sites received planning permission from the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit on January 5, 2022.
The 400 MW batteries will be the two largest grid-connected battery storage facilities in Europe.
The projects will provide reliable grid stability and energy management services in Scotland’s central belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh.
By storing and managing the dispatch of renewable energy generated by Scotland’s wind farms, the projects are paving the way for the future of the UK’s electricity infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of expensive transmission upgrades.
Setting the global standard for energy storage, the projects, located in Hunterston and Kincardine, represent a major step forward for the UK in achieving its net-zero energy target.
Following ScotWind ‘s recent offshore wind announcement, which sees the addition of 25 GW of new renewable generation capacity, the need for large-scale energy storage capable of moving energy and providing grid stability services is even more crucial.
Over the next few years, Amp’s battery installations in Scotland will enable up to 1750 GWh a year of additional renewable energy to be generated in Scotland and transported to other parts of the UK, equivalent to enabling the deployment of around 500 MW of new offshore wind turbines.
The Hunterston and Kincardine projects are also part of National Grid’s Scottish Stability Pathfinder 2 tender, which aims to address the voltage and stability issues facing the UK electricity grid.
Amp’s facilities will deploy state-of-the-art inverter technology for grid formation, as well as two new synchronous condenser installations that also contribute to grid stabilization.
The Scottish green battery complex will be optimized and distributed by Amp X, Amp’s proprietary digital energy platform powered by artificial intelligence.
Amp X leverages its proprietary, already bankable, transaction-ready system architecture and advanced state-of-the-art analytics hosted in the cloud.
Operating autonomously, the platform provides solutions to grid constraints, offering flexibility and enabling end-to-end energy transition.
