Renewable Energy Installer REI Feb/Mar 17 | Page 32

Knowledge: Energy Storage
Knowledge: Energy Storage
Battery storage trial aims to boost
number of solar homes in Barnsley
Moixa, Northern Powergrid and Energise
Barnsley have teamed up in a ground-
breaking trial to demonstrate how clusters
of home batteries can increase capacity on
the electricity network and enable more
homes to install solar panels.
Moixa Smart Batteries will be installed
in 40 homes and linked in a virtual power
plant in the first project to study how this
solution can reduce peak solar output onto
the electricity networks when there is low
local demand and save customers millions
in the cost of running the UK’s power
network.
Electricity distributor Northern Powergrid,
is funding installation of the batteries
in Oxspring, near Barnsley, in properties
owned by Barnsley Council and managed
by Berneslai Homes. Community energy
company Energise Barnsley has rolled out
solar to homes in the area but came up
against some network constraints in the
village which meant that five houses could
not be connected within the timescales
of the project. The trial will include all 30
homes in the housing estate with solar PV
panels plus 10 others without.
Simon Daniel, CEO of Moixa, said:
“Batteries will allow the electricity system
to support much higher levels of low-
carbon renewable power and increase
UK energy independence. By managing
clusters of home batteries in a virtual
power plant and allowing homeowners
to use more of their solar energy, thereby
exporting less, we believe we can
significantly reduce peak solar generation
output onto the network. This will allow
more homes to go solar without imposing
new costs on network operators.
“Solar homes with batteries can halve
their electricity bills, and this solution will
become increasingly popular as costs of
storage and PV fall. We are working closely
with North ern Powergrid and this project
will deliver insights to develop incentives
which we hope will allow us to roll out
solar plus storage to tens of thousands
of homes in their region, by creating a
32 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
Above: The Moixa home battery
business case for homeowners to invest
and also by increasing the number of solar
connections allowed on each substation.”
The £250,000 trial will seek to
demonstrate that the virtual power plant
can reduce peak solar output onto the
network sufficiently to enable panels
to be installed on more homes using
existing substations and cable networks.
If successful, Northern Powergrid believes
UK network operators could save millions
for customers by reducing the need
to upgrade infrastructure, which will
help ensure network-related charges
on customers’ electricity bills remain
good value. The trial will also feed into
national design guidance for low voltage
networks supplying housing estates. The
first batteries were installed at the end of
January and will cost residents nothing.
Solar panels typically cut electricity bills
by up to 30 per cent and batteries can
add further savings of up to 20 per cent
by allowing residents to use free energy
generated during the day at night.
Moixa will manage the cluster of batteries
to reduce peak generation output onto
Northern Powergrid’s local electricity
network by storing solar electricity instead
of exporting it to the grid. Its software
includes ‘learning algorithms’ which
respond to solar generation, electricity
network needs and each user’s behaviour
to maximise the benefits of storage.
By linking the batteries in a virtual power
plant Moixa will also be able to provide
services that make the wider electricity
grid more efficient, greener and cheaper
to run, such as maintaining a stable
frequency, so reducing the need for back-
up power from coal, oil and gas. Residents
will also receive a share of income from
Moixa for these grid services.
Andy Heald, Director of Energise Barnsley
said that they had only been able to
install solar PV on two in three homes in
the area as planned because of existing
grid constraints, while in a project in
Carmarthenshire, Wales, only 37 per cent
could connect.
The community energy company works
with local authorities around the country
to develop rooftop solar energy and owns
the panels on Berneslai’s homes. “Solar
power is a key part of Barnsley council’s
plan to reduce high levels of fuel poverty
in the region. Battery costs are falling
rapidly and storage has huge potential
to accelerate the national roll-out of
solar and improve the lives of vulnerable
people,” said Mr Heald. He said solar was
of particular benefit to elderly people who
are at home and using electricity during
the day, like many of the residents in the
Oxspring trial. Some people with solar
panels were saving up to 50% on their
energy bills and he believed batteries
could take this as high as 80 per cent.
Battery manufacturers call for
European energy storage strategy
EUROBAT, the Association of European
Automotive and Industrial Battery
Manufacturers, has published a call for
the development of a ‘2030 Battery
Strategy for Europe’ to strengthen the
shift towards a decarbonized society,
enabling energy storage of renewables,
energy efficiency and hybridization and
electrification of transports.
The organisation believes such a strategy
would lead to more coherence between
the several EU policies in the field of
energy, transport and environment.
For Europe as a whole, it is important
to enable the future of its entire battery
sector and ensure coherence between EU,
regional and national policy initiatives.
In particular, keeping and expanding
the manufacturing base of all battery
technologies in Europe will be of
paramount importance for the industrial
development of the European Union.
A variety of battery chemistries and
technologies exists today: lead, lithium,
sodium and nickel batteries. They all
answer to different demands in terms of
performance, capabilities and applications,
and all of them are an important part of
the solution to the challenges that climate
change and energy dependence are
presenting us with.
Batteries respond to demands in different
industrial sectors, from energy storage
and grid stability to warehouse and port
logistics, telecommunication and all
modes of transport. European battery
manufacturers have and will continuously
create added value for European jobs,
know-how and research & development.
They are active in all battery market
segments to various degrees, supplying
batteries to European and international
customers and directly employing more
than 30.000 people.
With this initiative, EUROBAT has
called on European policy makers to
cooperate with all stakeholders, including
manufacturers, suppliers, value chain
partners, users and civil society, to develop
such ‘2030 Battery Strategy for Europe’.
Such overall strategic EU policy
framework would provide business
certainty for European battery
manufacturers, create new opportunities
for all battery technologies and deliver
jobs, growth and innovation in Europe.
The coming two years of the current EU
Parliament and Commission should be
used to develop the ‘2030 Battery Strategy
for Europe’.
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