NEC Energy to Provide 100 MW Storage Projects in Northern Ireland

NEC Energy Solutions has announced that it will provide 100 MW of energy storage in Northern Ireland for the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF).

NEC Energy Solutions has announced that it will provide 100 MW of energy storage in Northern Ireland for the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) and project developer Low Carbon.

The 100 MW of energy storage will comprise two 50 MW projects located in Drumkee, County Tyrone and Mullavilly, County Armagh. The two projects, which are currently under construction, are the largest projects to date in Northern Ireland and are expected to derive revenue from the new Irish “Delivering a Secure Sustainable Electricity System” (DS3) program.

The System Operator of Northern Ireland has indicated that running the power system with increasingly high levels of renewable energy is a major challenge due to the intermittent nature of wind power and its technical characteristics. The purpose of the DS3 program is to enable Ireland to meet its target of 75 percent non-synchronous and renewable (i.e. wind and solar) electricity across the all-island network. The DS3 market consists of both fixed and standard contracts available across the Irish grid in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland has made tremendous progress in adopting renewable energy. Last year 44 percent of electricity consumption was generated by renewable resources. This easily beats Northern Ireland’s renewable target of 40 percent and occurred one year ahead of its 2020 deadline. Energy storage, via the DS3 program, makes more of this possible”, said Steve Fludder, CEO of NEC Energy Solutions.

“We are pleased to extend our partnership with Gore Street Capital. We invested in the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund and we look forward to working with Gore Street Capital on these and future projects. We also have excellent experience with Low Carbon operating and maintaining their two projects in the UK and are eager to collaborate with them in Northern Ireland.”

NEC is providing turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) including its GSS end-to-end grid storage solution and its AEROS control system, NEC’s proprietary energy storage control software. Both 50 MW projects will be completed and commissioned in Q1 2021. This transaction marks the second tranche of projects that NEC has been awarded by both Gore Street and Low Carbon.