Shifting across to green solar and wind power has had its limitations, to date. In the Upper Afan Valley near Swansea, Wales, plans are afoot to change this. The lovely valley has been going through hard times since the coal mines closed. Now, residents are hoping wind power from the Pen y Cymoedd farm will bring jobs, and dependable power to their homes. While its batteries bring stability to the power it delivers to the national grid.
Batteries Bring Stability, But Not for Wind Farms This Time
Batteries traditionally support wind farms by smoothing peaks and valleys in deliveries. That way, batteries bring stability to their output when the wind blows softer.
The Upper Arfan Valley already hosts the largest wind farm in England and Wales at Pen y Cymoedd. However, this time lithium-ion batteries are heading for even greater things.
The United Kingdom is already harvesting 25% of its energy from renewable resources. Its Climate Change Act want to see emissions cut by 80% by 2050, but it is not currently on target. The government is looking to the moment when batteries bring stability to the national grid as reliance on renewables grows.
How Batteries Will Help UK Meet Climate Change Targets
However, in this instance they will help manage renewable power fluctuations in a broader sense. To achieve this, six container-loads of lithium-ion batteries are on their way from Sweden to Pen y Cymoedd as we write. However they will not store energy from the wind farm as such. Their purpose is to offer vital services to the national grid itself to the tune of twenty-two megawatts.
The Swedish battery supplier believes this shaves $6.5 million off the cost of building a new grid connection. We close by quoting their spokesperson saying, “To connect a battery project to the transmission network would be prohibitively expensive. But because we have the wind farm already in place, we can share the assets. It’s a huge cost-saving when batteries bring stability this way.”
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Preview Image: Upper Afan Valley
