£100m joint venture agreed for large-scale energy storage project at Islandmagee
An Islandmagee-based renewables project with the potential to provide the energy used by up to 36,000 households per day has taken a major step forward.
Capital Dynamics, an independent global private asset manager, has agreed to partner with energy developer Solo Renewables, on the £100m Long Duration Energy Storage (“LDES”) system.
The proposal received planning approval from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in February, just six months after submission.
The 150MW project can provide up to eight-hour of storage capacity equivalent to 1,200MWh and is among the first large-scale LDES storage sites to be developed in the Irish Single Electricity Market.
With recent and anticipated regulatory developments encouraging further investment in wind and solar generation across Northern Ireland, energy storage is expected to play an increasingly important role in supporting the integration of renewable power into the grid.
Capital Dynamics and Solo Renewables say they are committed to working constructively with all relevant authorities and stakeholders to progress the Islandmagee LDES as quickly as possible.
Barney Coles, senior managing director and co-head of clean energy at Capital Dynamics, commented: "Projects such as this can provide additional flexibility to help manage renewable variability, support grid stability and improve the overall efficiency of the electricity system.
“The Islandmagee LDES project represents an important step in developing the long-duration storage infrastructure needed to support Northern Ireland’s evolving energy system.
"We look forward to working with Solo Renewables, our partners and with the system operator to help enable infrastructure that supports a reliable, secure and increasingly low-carbon energy system for Northern Ireland.”
Andrew Hutchinson, director at Solo Renewables, said: "Securing planning approval in six months reflects the strength of this project and the local understanding that Islandmagee is one of the most strategically important locations in the all-island energy network.
"Northern Ireland has great potential to create and use more renewable electricity locally. This will be a good thing for homes and businesses across the region but can only happen if we increase our ability to store wind and solar energy that can't be used at the time it's produced.
"We're pleased Capital Dynamics sees the potential of the Islandmagee LDES project and we're looking forward to delivering a landmark storage facility that supports the energy transition."