Three long duration energy projects have won support under the government’s Long Duration Energy Storage (Lodes) funding stream and are now expected to “fully deploy and demonstrate their technology”.
Three types of storage were able to apply for Lodes funding, which will be matched with other sources of funds. They were thermal, electrical and ‘power to X’. The winners were:
Synchrostor, Cumbernauld, Scotland, will receive £9.4 million to build a pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) grid-connected demonstration plant operating at 1MW, with the ability to charge and discharge for a period of 10 hours, longer than current battery technology
Cheesecake Energy Ltd, Nottingham, will receive £9.4 million to test its FlexiTanker, which stores electricity using a combination of thermal and compressed air energy storage and uses a reversible air compression/expansion train to charge and discharge. Pilot units will be installed at two sites within a microgrid development in Colchester.
Invinity Energy (UK) Limited, Scotland, will receive £11 million to develop and manufacture its 7MW, 30MWh four-hour Vanadium Flow Battery (VFB), the largest in the UK. Invinity will manufacture the 30 MWh VFB at the Company’s factory in West Lothian, Scotland and it is expected to go into operation in 2025.
Julia Souder, LDES Council CEO, said: “This investment is a clear signal from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero that long duration energy storage (LDES) will play a vital role in delivering a secure and affordable UK energy transition.
“The UK is already an LDES pioneer, with market conditions that provide a positive environment to support these new technologies to reach maturity at scale and pace, and deliver real impact this decade.
“This investment could prove to be a pivotal moment for the UKs energy grid, and we hope to see it have global ramifications, to stimulate more of this type of investment into LDES around the world.”