EDF has been selected by battery storage owner and operator Zenobe to optimise its new 100MW battery.
The French energy major will optimise the battery using its trading platform, allowing it to access a variety of revenue streams including ancillary services such as Dynamic Containment, the Balancing Mechanism and wholesale optimisation. This will also help provide a floor price, ensuring minimum income levels for the 100MW/107MWh asset are protected.
Zenobe announced construction of the battery had started at its site in Capenhurst, near Chester last week. It is expected to be the largest transmission-connected battery storage project in Europe according to the company.
The site has been commissioned as a direct response to National Grid’s Stability Pathfinder programmes said James Basden, co-founder and director at Zenobe, and is “a great example of the pioneering solutions businesses like ours can bring to the table when industry innovation is encouraged by up-to-date legislation”.
“The EDF team delivers leading trading and optimisation services and bring a wealth of energy industry experience, providing valuable expertise on the market and industry regulation. Battery projects like this one will be essential in balancing the grid and enabling Britain to reach its climate goals.”
Current± caught up with Basden recently to discuss the importance of battery storage for inertia as part of the decarbonising the grid. The company now has a portfolio of 175MW of operational grid-scale battery capacity, and is on track to expand this to 1GW by 2026.
EDF has been steadily expanding its role as an optimiser this year, and now has 490MW of battery storage optimisation contracts. This includes recent deals with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund and Eelpower.
Signing the deal with Zenobe comes after several months of cooperation between the two teams working on the project, with the long-term route to market agreement with EDF Trading helping to underpin the project finance package the former signed with Santander UK.
Stuart Fenner, head of energy trading services at EDF welcomed the agreement and committed to expanding their partnership with Zenobe further in the future, added that “this partnership will provide essential flexibility to the energy system and reinforces EDF’s commitment to helping Britain achieve net zero”.
