The world's first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland, will be equipped with a battery to store power from the wind farm from 2018, Statoil announced on Tuesday.
This is the first battery storage system connected to a floating wind farm.
The company awarded a contract to the U.S. energy company Younicos to deliver a one-megawatt battery system that will be connected to the farm, which is expected to become operational from the second quarter of 2018.
Statoil said the purpose of the storage solution project, named Batwind, is to 'teach' the battery when to hold back and store electricity, and when to send power to the grid, thus increasing the value of the power.
The Batwind project is part of a partnership between Statoil and Masdar - the Middle East's largest exporter of renewable energy from the United Arab Emirates.
"As part of Statoil's strategy of gradually supplementing our oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy, getting to understand energy storage is important. Batwind has the potential to add value by mitigating periods without wind - and by that making wind a more reliable energy producer year around," head of Hywind Development in Statoil, Sebastian Bringsvaerd said.
He added that, "this could expand the use and market for wind and renewables in the future."
The two 10-foot modular battery containers will be placed at the Hywind Scotland onshore substation in Peterhead, Scotland.
"We want the battery to automatically know when to hold back and store electricity, and when to send it out to the grid. Battery energy storage systems have existed in the market for several years and are rapidly developing. However, there is limited knowledge of how to make a battery act based on dynamic information, in order to maximize the value of renewable energy," Bringsvaerd said.
Statoil operates Hywind Scotland on behalf of partner Masdar, and has the major share of 75 percent while Masdar holds the remaining 25 percent.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
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