ESB Networks has announced that Ireland’s electricity grid now has 1GW of energy storage available to help its reliability.
This figure includes 731.5MW of battery storage projects and 292MW from Turlough Hill pumped storage power station – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Large-scale battery energy storage projects and Turlough Hill pumped storage power stations combine to provide flexibility and support more renewables in Ireland’s electricity system.
Energy storage facilities are connected across the grid to both the transmission and distribution systems, which are managed by EirGrid and ESB Networks. As it stands, peak demand on Ireland’s electricity system is approximately 5.5 GW.
According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Ireland’s electricity demand has increased by 2%, making it one of the few countries in Europe to record an increase in 2023. Across the year, coal generation fell 17% YoY, alongside a modest decline in gas-fired output of 1.2%.
Ireland is forecast to have the highest demand growth rate in Europe for electricity demand and consumption, where it is expected to rise by, on average, almost 7% per year.
Interestingly, data centres are expected to contribute hugely to this, with the nation braced to see a rapid expansion in this sector. Irish data centres are estimated to have consumed around 5.3TWh of electricity in 2022, up by 31% in 2021.
This is around 17% of the country’s electricity demand and almost equal to the consumption in all urban dwellings, the IEA said.
With a strong pipeline of further energy storage projects, Ireland’s electricity system is becoming more flexible, facilitating a transition to renewable energy usage.
Nicholas Tarrant, managing director of ESB Networks, said: “This really is a significant milestone for us at ESB Networks and our partners involved in connecting one Giga Watt of energy storage to Ireland’s electricity network.
“The figure includes sites like ESB’s Turlough Hill hydroelectric station, but what we have seen in recent years is a major push by the wider industry to deliver large-scale battery energy storage projects that we have been able to support through network connections.”
Bobby Smith, head of Energy Storage Ireland, remarked: “Energy storage is a key enabler of our clean energy future, and this achievement is a big step on that journey. Our members are delivering the energy storage projects alongside ESB Networks that are needed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and drive down energy prices while ensuring a secure, stable electricity system.”
Looking forward to long duration
Long duration energy storage (LDES) is the next logical step in adopting further energy storage assets, as the technology can store more and release more energy to the electricity network.
An example of one of the inaugural projects introducing long duration to Ireland is a 4-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) delivered by Fluence and Norwegian state-owned firm Statkraft in partnership.
The 20MW BESS, which is expected to be a “market first”, will be deployed in County Offaly, in the Republic of Ireland, at Statkraft’s 55.8MW Cushaling wind farm, which is already under construction. Fluence and Statkraft expect to finish construction by the end of 2024.
Statkraft said the BESS will be able to discharge 20MW for up to four hours, longer than the typical duration deployed in the Ireland market to date, which has been between 30 minutes and two hours.
It will support Ireland’s grid operator, Eirgrid, by providing renewable load shifting as well as ancillary services to help maintain grid stability.
It is Statkraft’s third BESS project in Ireland, and the firm has worked with Fluence on all three. The first was completed in January 2020.
The two companies recently partnered for a transmission-connected BESS in the UK too; Statkraft’s first to be connected that way rather than into the distribution network as is more common.
