Masdar and Statoil to explore potential of battery storage solution

Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, has announced the signing of a collaborative agreement with Norwegian multinational oil and gas company Statoil to analyse data from "Batwind" – the integrated energy storage system designed to store energy generated by Hywind Scotland, the first commercial-scale floating wind farm that was inaugurated by the two companies last October – and explore the battery’s potential for further applications and business opportunities.

The agreement was signed by Bader Al Lamki, Masdar’s Executive Director for Clean Energy, and Sebastian Bringsvaerd, Head of Hywind Development in New Energy Solutions, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will purchase, test and install Batwind to investigate how the battery storage solution can be leveraged to improve the operational and cost efficiency of offshore wind farms.

Being able to study Batwind’s performance under a range of conditions will generate a high level of operational data, which will in turn enable a thorough exploration of the potential integration of battery storage solutions with wind and solar power generation systems, and offer insight into the potential application of this technology in other locations.

"The intermittent nature of solar and wind energy pose challenges for dependable power supply and grid stability. Energy storage is key to overcoming these challenges and unlocking the full potential of renewables" said Bader Al Lamki, Masdar’s Executive Director for Clean Energy. "By partnering with Statoil on the Batwind project, Masdar is addressing this critical need for affordable, reliable and regionally-optimized battery technologies and strengthening the viability of energy storage solutions. This has the potential to deliver far-reaching benefits in the development of renewables as a baseload power source."

The battery will be located at the onshore substation of Hywind Scotland – which is located off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland – and connected to the offshore wind farm at the grid entry point.

Bringsvaerd said, "With more renewables coming into production it will be crucial to handle storage to ensure predictable energy supply in periods without wind or sun. Batwind has the potential to add value by mitigating periods without wind – and by that making wind a more reliable energy producer year around. This could expand the use and market for wind and renewables in the future.

Hywind, which was inaugurated in October 2017, is the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. Masdar holds a 25 percent stake in the project with Statoil, who owns the remaining 75 percent. Operating with an installed capacity of 30 megawatts (MW), Hywind Scotland is already powering approximately 6,600 homes and displacing 63,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

The collaboration is Masdar’s second offshore wind partnership with Statoil – the first being the recently launched Dudgeon Wind Farm. Combined with London Array, the two projects bring the total offshore wind capacity of the UK renewable energy projects in which Masdar is an investor to over 1,000MW.