As energy storage continues to see an upward trajectory in the UK energy market, two second life battery energy storage systems (BESS) have been installed at Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Northwest in Lancashire.
The BESS systems had been supplied by Connected Energy in order to link a range of renewable technologies and support the decarbonisation of the UK’s manufacturing sector.
AMRC Northwest, which is a part of the University of Sheffield’s AMRC network, is dubbed the most advanced low carbon smart building demonstrator to have been developed to support the manufacturing sector, Connected Energy said.
The site will be able to store and use its own generated clean energy helping to showcase how energy costs and carbon emissions can be controlled by manufacturers.
“Any business with renewables on site could hugely benefit from a battery storage solution. For us, it will allow us to maximise the energy generated from our renewables. For others like those in construction and manufacturing, two of the heaviest carbon polluters per person and the hardest to change, it will show what steps can be made with a BESS on the ground,” said Ben Smith, low carbon smart building specialist at AMRC Northwest.
The AMRC site will automatically coordinate meteorological data with BESS data to ensure the system is prepared in advance to maximise revenue opportunities around weather conditions, Connected Energy said.
The system also aims to showcase how an intelligent approach to energy can reduce costs and carbon emissions in manufacturing. The firm stated that this will be achieved by using artificial intelligence and data modelling to automatically programme the system to provide energy to the site at peak production times.
The system will use two types of photovoltaic panels, one a standard rooftop array as well as two smart flowers which open and track the sun throughout the day.
“We are very proud to be chosen by the University of Sheffield AMRC North West for this project which will become the hallmark of energy best practice for the manufacturing sector. Being a demonstrator site is especially important to us as it allows us to showcase some of the major benefits of introducing battery storage into a commercial setting,” said Matthew Lumsden, CEO of Connected Energy.
Connected Energy recently secured £15 million in funding to scale its second life battery technology in response to the growing energy storage market and increasing international availability of second life batteries.
The financing had been secured from Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., the Hinduja Group, Mercuria, OurCrowd and Volvo Energy. They joined existing investors Engie New Ventures, Macquarie and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.
Last month, Connected Energy partnered with Mobilize Power Solutions, the EV charging arm of Renault Group to install second-life BESS systems at EV sites.
The partnership aims to support EV charging locations that lack appropriate energy supply with the necessary infrastructure to store energy required for charging. This will cater with the growing demand for EVs on the UK’s roads by presenting enough capacity to install additional chargepoints.